THE FLOEAL WOELD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 297 



GESNERAS. 



|HEN well-managed these are very handsome plants, which, 

 owing to their accommodating habits, are particularly 

 well-suited for amateurs, or persons having but small 

 house-room. G. zebrina, which I need not say is one 

 of the best of them, may be had in bloom at almost any 

 period of the year ; but it is most useful for autumn and winter 

 flowering, and lor this purpose few plants are more useful. 



Like Achimenes, Gesneras increase sufficiently fast, by means 

 of their underground tubers, to render artificial propagation un- 

 necessary, at least in the case of ordinary growers. If it is desired 

 to have flowering specimens in autumn and early winter, the tubers 

 should be carefully separated from the soil in which they have been 

 wintered, about the beginning of March, and planted rather thickly 

 on the surface of well-drained pots or pans, filled to within about 

 three inches of their surface with any light peaty soil, from which 

 it will be easy to separate the roots without injury, and covered two 

 inches deep. Give a gentle watering, to settle the soil about the 

 tubers, and place them in a warm, growing temperature of about 

 65° or 70°. Until the plants appear above the soil no more water 

 should be given than may be necessary to preserve the soil in a 

 most healthy condition. As soon as the plants are from an inch to 

 two inches high they should be separated and repotted. I use 

 shallow eight-inch pots, and place five plants in each ; but the 

 number of plants in a pot should be regulated by the taste and 

 convenience of the cultivator. With proper management one placed 

 in a pot will form a very fine specimen ; but, to effect this, more 

 care and time are required than when five plants are put into a pot, 

 and the latter form larger specimens than it is possible to obtain 

 by having only one plant. After potting, keep the atmosphere close 

 and moist, and give very little water at the root until they start 

 into growth. 



When the pots are moderately well-filled with roots, shift into 

 the flowering-size. For single specimens ten-inch pots will be 

 sufficiently large ; when three plants are used, twelve-inch pots will 

 be necessary, and thirteen-inch pots iu the case of five plants. 

 Keep close and moist, and carefully avoid over-watering till the 

 roots can penetrate the fresh soil. A high temperature during 

 summer is rather injurious than beneficial in the culture of this 

 plant ; 50° or 60° at night, allowing it to range 10° or 15° higher 

 with sun-heat, will be most conducive to strong vigorous growth, 

 and the production of handsome specimens. The plants should be 

 placed near the glass, so that they may receive as much light as can 

 be afforded them, but it will be found necessary to slightly shade 

 them during bright sunshine, and the atmosphere should be main- 

 tained in a thoroughly moist state ; but this must not be effected by 

 excluding air and close shading, otherwise the plants will assume a 

 sickly, drawn appearance, and the foliage will be thin and ill- 

 coloured. The shoots may be neatly staked, as soon as they are 



October. 



