TUBEROUS ROOTED BEGONIAS, AMARYLLIS AND 



FREESIAS FOR THE AMATEUR; THEIR 



TREATMENT AND GROWTH.— I. 



A paper read before the Hamilton Horticultural Society by VV. Hunt, florist. 



it may interest you to know that 

 the numerous and beautiful class 

 of plants, known under the term 

 " begonias," of which the tuber- 

 ous variety form a very small, but de- 

 cidedly important section of, were nam- 

 ed after M. Begon, a noted French 

 botanist, and their introduction to Euro- 

 pean floriculture took place about a cen- 

 tury ago, there being at that date only 

 a few discovered. It was not until early 

 in the present century (about 1810) that 

 we have any record of the tuberous 

 begonia, when it was introduced into 

 England from South America, where a 

 very large percentage of the numerous 

 varieties of the begonia, which have 

 served as the basis of the beautifully 

 improved varieties, now grown, were 

 nati\es of Peru, Brazil, Mexico and 



Fit;. 1579. — Spray of Tuberous Beoonia.s. 



149 



