THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 291 
previously occupied. In the matter of soil, it will suffice to say 
that a compost in every way suited to their requirements is prepared 
with equal parts turfy loam, fibrous peat, and leaf-mould, and a 
liberal proportion of sharp silver sand. After the potting is com- 
pleted place them in the stove, or wherever they can enjoy the 
advantages of a temperature of about seventy degrees, and as soon 
as they commence to grow freely, supply liberally with water. With 
the aid of a cucumber frame and an ordinary greenhouse these 
plants can be grown very successfully. When the hotbed is made up 
the begonias can be started, and by the time the cucumber plants 
begin to extend over the frame, they can be removed to the green- 
house, where they can remain until the following spring. They can 
be wintered safely in a greenhouse provided they are kept quite dry 
at the roots. Those in the stove should be maintained in full 
growth throughout the winter, for they contribute much to the 
interest and attractiveness of that structure during the dull season ; 
but when they remain in the greenhouse from October until March, 
they will perish if the soil is kept otherwise than quite dry. 
The most distinct and desirable for a small collection are, Be- 
gonia dedalea, B. grandis, B. Griffith, B. imperialis, B. Marshalli, 
B. Rex, B. nebulosa, and B. Rollissoni. 
THE FERTILIZING AND HYBRIDIZING OF AROIDS. 
BY M. A. DE LA DEVANSAGE. 
eee ERTILIZATION is one of the most important processes 
44) in the propagation of plants. Means the most varied 
are provided by Nature—by the intervention of insect 
agency or by the hand of man; which last, by lending 
seasonable aid, ofttimes becomes creative, thanks to the 
manifold combinations resulting from crossing. 
The family of aroids possesses a very high interest in connection 
with the study of cross-fertilization, which is effected sometimes 
directly, sometimes indirectly. 
Arum muscivorum is a good example of fertilization by insect 
agency. Its unisexual flowers are borne on a single spadix, the 
male flowers on the upper part, the female below, the whole being 
enclosed in a broad spathe, the interior of which is furnished with 
long hairs turned towards the bottom of the tube. As the flower is 
shielded from the winds and the approach of insects by this pro- 
tective arrangement, there would be no means by which the pollen 
could reach the female flowers when they open but for the flies 
which, attracted by the odour of decaying meat emitted by this plant 
during blossom, enter the spathe and are caught in the hairs, 
Moving to and fro over the spadix in their efforts to escape, they 
carry down the pollen to the lower portion of the flower, which so 
becomes fertilized, and forthwith produces fruit and seed. Now, 
this shows us exactly what should be done by growers desirous of 
obtaining seed for new varieties of aroids. or although these 
October. 
