184 General Notices. 



tained in the beginning of February, selecting young healthy pieces, such 

 as are not over full of sap, and which are rather firm ; these strike freely, 

 inserted rather thickly around the sides of 5-inch pots, and plunged in a 

 close warm frame where the bottom heat is about 75° or 80". Any light 

 sandy soil will answer. I generally use equal parts of silver sand and leaf 

 mould, the latter passed through a fine sieve and thoroughly mixed with the 

 sand. When the cuttings are well rooted, which will be the case in the 

 course of a month, they should be potted singly in 5-inch pots, and replaced 

 in the propagating frame, and if they can have the assistance of a gentle 

 bottom heat all the better. When the pots become filled with roots, shift 

 into 8-inch one?, and place the plants in a shady corner of the stove, or 

 wherever it may be convenient, provided a temperature of from G0° to 65° 

 is maintained, and a moist atmosphere kept up; but unless they occupy a 

 shady situation, it will be necessary to screen them from the midday sun, as 

 this species is rather impatient of bright sunshine, and if thus exposed, it 

 loses that fine glossy appearance which the foliage presents when in vigor- 

 ous health. When the pots become filled with roots, a little clear manure- 

 water will be beneficial; and they should be syringed with pure water, 

 morning and evening. By the middle of June, they will require a final shift 

 into 13 inch pots, and should be encouraged to make vigorous growth. 

 With regard to stopping, they merely require to have any over-luxuriant 

 shoot stopped, when it has attained the desired height, so as to regulate the 

 flow of the sap, and induce the formation of lateral branches, upon which 

 the flowers are produced. The stronger shoots should be supported by neat 

 stakes, and tied out, so as to accommodate the side shoots which are to pro- 

 duce the flowers. Managed in this way they form fine bushy plants, com- 

 mence blooming in October, and continue in flower till March, or even later, 

 if kept in a temperature of 50° or 55°. 



A second lot of cuttings should be got in about the beginning of July, 

 and treated as the first, except that after the second shift, which they should 

 receive in September, they may remam in 8-inch pots till February. Dur- 

 ing the winter they should occupy a situation near the glass, where the 

 temperature may average from 50® to 60°. Early in February a portion of 

 the plants may be shifted into 13-inch pots, after which a slight increase of 

 heat will be essential to their well doing, but when subjected to a high 

 temperature at this early season, they should receive all the light that it is 

 possible to give them. As the plants progress in growtli, they must receive 

 attention in the way of stopping and tying, and when the pots become full 

 of roots they should be watered frequently with clear manure. The re- 

 mainder of the plants, if allowed to remain in their winter pots, and encour- 

 aged with a slight increase of temperature, will flower at an earlier period 

 than those which occupy larger pots, or they may be left in a cool place 

 until the middle of March, and then shifted to form a succession to those 

 shifted in February. 



This Begonia may be removed to a conservatory, when in flower, where 

 it will continue to produce a constant succession of blossoms during several 

 months ; but unless the conservatory is treated something like an interme- 



