458 On the Cultivation of Gloxinia Maculata. 



Viola hldnda Sweet-scented white Violet. Stemless. 

 Root creeping. Leaves smooth, flat, scolloped on the rim, 

 and either ovate or broad heart-shaped, with the hollow 

 rounded ; leaf stems semi-cylindrical. The flowers look ex- 

 actly like those of the spear-leaved violet. — Meadows. — 

 May. Yours, 



E. B. Kenrick. 



Watertown, Sept. 9th, 1835. 



(To be continued.) 



Aet. IV. On the Cultivation of Gloxinia maculata. By 

 P. Q., Philadelphia. 



Sirs — This, in my opinion, is the finest of all the gloxin- 

 ias, when well grown. To insure its flowering every season, 

 it will be necessary to attend to the following method of cul- 

 tivation. At present, the plants are in that state when they 

 require but gentle waterings ; and about the first of December, 

 I would prefer laying the pots on their sides altogether ; as 

 the tops of the old plants decay, they may be cut oft' (keeping 

 them in the hot-house). About the first of February, suckers 

 will be observed coming up around the edge of the pots, 

 when they ought to be placed immediately upon their bot- 

 toms, and the young plants encouraged by gentle waterings, 

 until the leaves are about half an inch in diameter ; the old 

 plants must then be shaken out of the pots, and as many 

 of the strongest suckers preserved as may be wanted ; from 

 one pot, a hundred may be procured ; plant them singly in 

 thumb pots, in equal parts of peat and leaf mould, shifting 

 into larger sizes as they grow, using the same compost. 

 The plants require more moisture than many are aware of, 

 and if pans of water are placed below each pot, it will en- 

 courage the growth of them very much. Jl single leaf of this 

 species, when well grown, ought to measure at least twenty 

 inches in circumference. ]t throws up its spikes of beautiful 

 blue flowers, numbering from fourteen to twenty on each. The 

 others, such as speciosa, var. alba and hirsuta, are easily 

 propagated by leaves ; putting them in when the plants are in 

 full bloom. 



By encouraging the maculata, while in a young state, by 

 frequent shiftings, rests the flowering of them in September, 

 October and November. Yours, ^x. P. Q- 



Philadelphia, JVovember 8, 18G5. 



