Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 



185 



moreover, be subjected to too low a tem- 

 perature when at rest or the tubers will 

 rot. From 50° to 55° at night is as low as 

 they can safely be kept. Early in the 

 ensuing year the old soil should be shaken 

 from them, and they sliould be shifted 

 into pots proportionate in size to that 

 which the tubers have attained. Those 

 that have done well will bear moving at 

 once into pots 6 or 7 inches in diameter ; 

 a size less will do for the smaller roots. 

 Drain and fill the pots with soil such as 

 that recommended for the preceding year ; 

 the more fibrous material it contains the 

 freer will the growth of the plants be. 

 Always place the potting material before 

 use wheie it will get a little warm ; let it 

 be in ratlier a dry than in a moist state. 

 It often happens with these, and tubei-s 

 of a similar character, that they are 

 suddenly transferred from the dry soil in 

 which they have been at rest to new soil 

 that contains too much moisture, from 

 which they absorb so much as to cause 

 their destruction. 



In potting allow the tops of the tubers 

 to be just above the surface of the soil, and 

 press the latter moderately firm ; place 

 them on a shelf in a house or pit where 

 the temperature will be 60° during the 

 night, with a proportionate lise in the 

 daytime. Give water enough to faiily 

 moisten the soil directly the tubers begin 

 to push. It is important that they have 

 sufficient light as soon as shoot-growtli 

 commences, for if their first efforts in this 

 direction are made in a daik situation 

 the shoots quickly become drawn up weak, 

 a condition that no subsequent treatment 

 during the season can rectify. As solar heat 

 increases give more warmth both day and 

 night. The time of their blooming will 

 vary with the higher or lower temperature 

 to which they are subjected, but they may 

 be expected to show flower in April or 

 May. When the bloom spikes appear see 

 that they do not receive too much wet 

 through syringing in the after-part of the 

 day, as wet often causes the individual un- 

 3xpanded flowers to drop. When the 

 flowers begin to open the plants may be 

 placed in a somewhat cooler situation, 

 such as an intermediate house or a warm 

 conservatory away from draughts ; keep 

 the soil while they are in a position of this 

 kind a little drier than hitherto, but on 

 no account must they be placed where too 

 cold, or they will receive a check that will 

 endanger their health and cause the blooms 

 to fall off prematurely. If used for de- 

 corative purposes in this way they should, 

 as soon as the flowering is over, be at once 

 moved back to the stove and regularly sup- 



plied with water until they exhibit signs 

 of going to rest. If, on the other hand, 

 they are not removed during the time of 

 flowering from the stove, plants that are 

 started early in the year, as these were, 

 wiU generally push up a successional crop 

 of young shoots, much in the way that 

 Gloxinias do, which will bloom later in 

 the season. During this second growth 

 weak applications of manure-water will 

 materially assist them. Through the 

 autumn give more air and subject them 

 to a drier atmosphere until the tops have 

 died down ; winter as before. By retard- 

 ing growth until late in the spring they 

 may ])e had in bloom through the autumn 

 if lequired. The flowers can be used for 

 cutting, but they are better adapted for 

 decorative purposes on the plants. If care- 

 fully managed the tubers go on increasing 

 in size, and will last for many years. This 

 class of Gesneras may also be increased by 

 division of the tubers. 



The ornamental -leaved kinds, which 

 also produce beautiful flowers, are mostly 

 herbaceous, and have scaly roots not unlike 

 those of the nearly allied genus Achimenes. 

 They will strike from cuttings made of the 

 young shoots, either consisting of the top 

 and two or three joints, or of a couple or 

 even of a single joint from the lower por- 

 tion of the shoots, when not too hard or 

 woody, inserted in silver sand, and covered 

 M-ith a propagating glass ; for the most 

 part they are, however, usually increased 

 by division of their scale-like roots, which 

 they form in considerable numbers. These 

 may either be used whole or cut into pieces, 

 according to the scarcity of the kinds or 

 the quantity required ; but, although a 

 small piece, with care, will grow, still, as 

 might be naturally supposed, the larger 

 the pieces the stronger the plants will be. 

 For ordinary purposes the roots used whole 

 are best. As this very beautiful section of 

 Gesneras is the most useful when in flower 

 through the late and earliest months of tlie 

 year, it is not Avise to start the plants too 

 soon ; April will be time enough. The 

 most convenient practice is to procure 

 some good-sized propagating pans, drained 

 and two-thirds filled with sifted soil made 

 sufficiently light by the addition of a little 

 leaf-mould and sand. Gently j^ress the 

 surface smooth ; on this lay the roots 2 

 inches apart and cover with half-an-inch 

 of similar material. At once place them 

 in a night temperature of 60° or 65°, keep- 

 ing the soil only slightly moist until they 

 have begun to grow. As soon as the young 

 shoots -have pushed up an inch above the 

 surface move them singly into from 3 to 5 

 inch pots, according to the strength of the 



