1 888. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



75 



species the seedlings are generally the exact 

 counterpart o( their parents, but in the case 

 of garden varieties and hybrids the seed- 

 lings will be apt to differ more or less from 

 the parent. The seeds are fine as dust. 

 Sow in pots, pans or shallow boxes, that 

 are well drained and filled with light, sandy 

 soil; merely dust the seeds on the surface of 

 the soil, then water by dipping the base of 

 the pot in water till you notice the moisture 

 rising to the surface. Then place the flat 

 in a warm, sunless window, or part of the 

 greenhouse till the seedliiigs appear, when 

 prick them off in little bunches into other 

 similarly prepared pots or pans. Don't 

 water young seedlings overhead, but al- 

 ways by dipping, and never dip unless the 

 soil is pretty dry. 



All Begonias may also be increased from 

 leaves, but it is only in the case of Rex 

 hydrocotyfolia and similar kinds that leaf 

 propagation is practiced. Big-leaved kinds, 

 as Heracleifolia, had better be raised from 

 seed or division, and all bushy sorts, as Iji- 

 signis, from cuttings. I prefer to propagate 

 in early spring. 



Soil ix Pots.— Turfy, fibrous loam, with 

 some sharp sand. Except in the case of 

 fast growing young stock, I don't care 

 about using leaf mold; and only in the 

 case of vigorous sorts do I use manure in 

 the soil. We read a good deal about us- 

 ing peat; my advice is don't. If I had good 

 fibrous peat I'd use it, but the kind of peat 

 I get here turns to pasty manure so soon 

 that it is more hurtful than beneficial to 

 pot plants. 



Watering. — Evergreen Begonias, as 

 Coccinea and Nitida, should be kept mod- 

 erately moist at all times, but tuberous 

 rooted Begonias, as Davisi and Boliviensis, 

 should have a decided period of rest, when 

 they should not be watered at all. All 

 kinds when in active growth should be 

 watered freely. While Begonias like a 

 moist atmosphere, they are impatient of 

 having their leaves wetted much. Except 

 now and again in bright weather, and to 

 wash the dirt off them, there isn't much 

 gained by syringing, hosing or sprinkling 

 them overhead. 



Resting.— By reducing the supply of 

 water and lowering the temperature, I rest 

 my Rex Begonias. The same with the 

 other large leaved sorts I plant out in sum- 

 mer, but in case of the bushy " flowering " 

 sorts, a-s Fnchsioides and Insignis, I give 



DEVICE FOR MEASURING BLOOMS. 



them no rest. Wlien they have done bloom- 

 ing, or become homely in any way, I secure 

 and strike some cuttings and throw the old 

 plants away. Tuberous rooted Begonias 

 need a long and decided resting period, and 

 be this summer, as in the case of Frteblii, 

 or winter, as in the case of Veitchii, let them 

 have it. But never let frost reach the 

 tubers. And don't keep them unduly dry. 

 Temperature.— There is nothing gained 

 by growing Begonias of any sort in a tem- 



perature of less than .50°. Over 6.5° by arti- 

 ficial means, too, is useless unless it be to 

 hurry up Re.x or young stock. 



SuM.MERiNG.— All Begonias, so far as my 

 experience e.xtends, prefer outdoor to in- 

 door qiuirters in summer. And, providing 

 the place is to their liking, grow more lu.\- 

 uriantly when planted out than when kept 

 in pots. My winter flowering stock, as 

 Sauudersoui and Ingrami, I plant out in 

 May and lift and repot in September with 

 the same regularity as I do with Ivy, Carna- 

 tions or Bouvardias. 



Insects. — Green-fly will attack the flow- 

 ers and tender young shoots; Thrips the back 

 of the leaves of any of the sorts. Red 

 Spider appears occasionally, but the worst 

 pest is Mealy Bugs. Dipping in warm to- 

 bacco water will displace the Green-fly and 

 Thrips, but the Red Spider and bugs had 

 better be nibbed or washed off. 



Device for Measuring Blooms. 

 I have thought it may interest some of 

 your readers if I were to describe a simple 

 inexpensive contrivance we have in use here 

 for measuring Chrysanthemum blooms and 

 other products having a stem. It consists 

 of a thin deal board a foot square, on which 

 is marked consecutive rings a quarter of an 

 inch apart, all being drawn from the same 

 point — the centre of the board. A slot wide 

 enough to take the flower stems is made to 

 the centre, and on the outside of each circle 

 is marked its diameter, which multiplied by 

 3 gives its circumference. A flower any 

 size can thus be measured much more cor- 

 rectly and quickly than by any other method 

 that I am acquainted with. I send with 

 this a rough sketch of our board, which you 

 may reproduce in a reduced form in your 

 pages if you choose. Our board is 9 inches 

 in diameter.— Corr. .Tournal of Horticulture. 



Some Points on Flower Gardening. 



L. F. ABBOTT, ANDROSCOGGIN CO., MAINE. 



Generally speaking it should not be at- 

 tempted on too large a scale. It is much 

 better to restrict one's operations to smaller 

 limits and expense, the care and cultivation 

 upon less varieties and a smaller area, grow- 

 ing to perfection what plants are selected. 

 The ground should be properly prepare<i by 

 fine, deep tilth and well enriched by old de- 

 composed manure. A rich compost of turf, 

 leaf mold and bone dressing, so handled as 

 to be perfectly fine and free from lumps, 

 makes a nice dressing for flowers. 



In exposed situations the ornamental as 

 well as the vegetable garden should be 

 protected on the north and west sides by 

 close fences or by a plantation of shurbs. A 

 thick growing hedge of some one of the 

 many plants suited to that puriiose may be 

 made both ornamental and of utility. In 

 small gardens, where there is not space for 

 picturesque delineation, a general air of 

 simplicity and neatness should be the pre- 

 vailing characteristic. A variety of forms 

 of beds may be employed, provided the fig- 

 ures are graceful and not complicated. An 

 oval is a form that generally pleases, on 

 account of the continuity of its outlines. A 

 circle, if quite extensive, may be indulged, 

 but the fanciful shapes of hearts, zig-zags 

 which represent nothing, and usually dia- 

 monds or triangles, seldom foi-m a pleasing 

 effect. A simple parallelogram divided 

 into beds running length wise.or the segment 

 of an oval with beds running paralled to its 

 outer margin, will always please. 



The outfit to make a very pretty garden 

 need not be costly. It is necessary to have 

 a few implements, such as a spade, a couple 

 of rakes— a coarse wooden one and a finer 

 iron toothed one — hoe, trowel, line to draw 

 curves with, and pruning knife and shears. 

 The florists', seedsmen's and nurserymen 



catologues should be consulted,— and by the 

 way such will now .soon make their appear- 

 ance in all their loveUuess— and seeds of 

 such annuals selected as will give a succes- 

 sion of bloom and variety. 



The Tree-like Malvaviscus. 



Of the numerous plants received at the 



office of Popular Gardening evei-y year 



for name no other one arrives so often as 



the Tree-like Malvaviscus (M. arborea). 



THE TREE-LIKE MALVAVISCUS,FLOWERS SCARLET 



shown in our engraving. The enquirers 

 frequently ask. Is it an Abutilon or Flower- 

 ing Maple ? because of its near resemblance 

 to that flower. It is indeed a very near 

 relation, both belonging to the natural order 

 MaliviccK, but distinguished by botanists as 

 two genera. Formerly the subject of our 

 sketch was known (and is still in some cata- 

 logues and books) as Achn)ii<i Mulvaiyiscus, 

 but now the genus bears the latter name. 



The chief attraction of the species illus- 

 trated is its handsome scarlet flowers pro- 

 duced at the axis of growth, and its green, 

 heart-shaped, sharply pointed leaves. The 

 plants are mainly grown in the greenhouse 

 and window and thrive under quite ordinary 

 treatment. The species prefer a compost of 

 rather rich fibrous loam in which to grow. 

 The plants are propagated by cuttings. 



This Malvaviscus is one of the oldest 

 American plants known to modern florists, 

 having been introduced to Europe from the 

 West Indies as early as 1714. Belonging to 

 the same genus are half a dozen other 

 species suitable for greenhouse culture, all 

 of which are natives of tropical America and 

 Mexico. One species known as M. mulli.s 

 from Mexico, resembles the present variety 

 in a number of respects, but is specially 

 distinguished by its three-lobed, soft leaves. 



495. Transplanting Young Walnuts. Any 

 time beftn-e Mny. Cot back tap-root, that's all. 



476. Lapageria rosea from Cuttings. Hope 

 for success but be prepared for failure. Select 

 stout well-ripened shoots. Make the cuttingrs 

 two eyes, in October to December, and insert 

 them in pots or small pans in sandy soil. Keep 

 in a cool, shady part of the greenhouse. They 

 will not likely begin to root till the following 

 summer. Lapagcrias are usually propagated 

 from layers. Sometimes a shoot is brought 

 down, partly cut at a joint and clbiiwcij into the 

 soil as we wotdd a .Tapancsc .Maple, ami in which 

 case we get our jilatit. Hut the cnnunnn way 

 practiced by nurserjiucn is to select stout, 

 healthy shoots and tack them flat, either spread 

 out or coiled, on a lied of peat.^• earth, then cover 

 them over about H inch deep with clean sand or 

 sandy peat, taking care to pre-serve all the leaves 

 and keep tlicm sticking up through the sand, 

 also the ends of the shoots sticking up. After 

 several months some of the e.vcs will push forth 

 shoots and the joint.s take root, then these can be 

 separated and treated as single plants. But 

 propagating Lapagerias by seeds, cuttings or 

 layers is no easy task.— W. F. 



