182 VILLA GARDENING part ii 



have bottom-heat, as its teudeucy is to cause over-hixuriance, which 

 soon shows itself in strong shoots breaking away, and necessitates 

 stopping and pinching. If good-habited kinds are grown in the 

 right way, there should not be much stopping or pinching required, 

 as the plants will assiune a natural pjTamidal outhne without it. If, 

 through over-potting or any other cause, any shoots outgrow the 

 others, they must of course be stopped in their career, to prevent 

 them becoming robbers ; but the very best one-year-old plants I 

 ever saw had never been pinched, and their outline was absolutely 

 perfect. They were growTi under the most favourable conditions 

 as to warmth and moisture, they had never received a check, and 

 had never been over-pushed, but had been taken along steadily, 

 exposed to plenty of light to build up the growth as it was made. 

 A little ventilation in the early part of the day, but closing early 

 in the afternoon, and filling the air with moisture, seems to furnish 

 just the conditions suitable for rapid, well-balanced, well-set up 

 growth. Fuchsias in a young soft state may perhaps, in some 

 cases, require a little shade on bright days ; but if shade be used 

 it may always be taken off when the house is closed, and the syringe 

 should be used freely. 



Potting. — In potting Fuchsias, always shift into larger pots as 

 soon as the roots push through the ball and begin to form in clusters 

 round the sides, though large shifts should be avoided for a reason 

 I have already alluded to — viz. it encourages gross gi'owth. If 

 the plants are required to be in bloom for any special occasions, 

 the flowers should be pinched off till within six or seven weeks of 

 the time they are wanted in full flower. And if fed with liquid 

 manure, and shaded from bright sunshine, they will continue in 

 great perfection a long time. Some cultivators recommend 

 autumn propagation for the principal specimens, and I have often 

 struck them at that time to have young plants as large as possible 

 early in the season. The cuttings do not root so readily at that 

 season, and are more difficult to obtain, as flowering shoots do not 

 make good cuttings. But good cuttings can generally be obtained 

 in August from plants turned out, or that have been standing in 

 the open air some time in a shady place. To obtain the full 

 advantage from autumn propagation, the young plants must be 

 kept moving all winter on a shelf near the glass in a wann house. 

 The object is to obtain an early start in spring, and if kept moving 

 on steadily through the short days they will be far in advance of 

 anything struck in spring. Keeping Fuchsias in Avinter in a resting 

 state involves no trouble, the usual plan being to put them away 

 under the greenhouse stage till growth becomes active again, and 

 then prune into shape and repot. They should not be kept abso- 



