SECOND WEEK IN MARCH 



points of new growths will appear, and when these are half 

 an inch in length each tuber should be potted up singly, 

 providing it with only enough room for the water supply to 

 be given around the tuber, which should be raised in the 

 centre and only half-covered with soil ; for there is a great 

 danger of the tuber becoming rotten instead of growing if 

 over-watered at this point of its cultivation. But when 

 once the roots are in full growth and the plant produces 

 buds, it will need a much more plentiful supply of water, 

 always given at a temperature as warm as the atmosphere in 

 which it grows. 



Tuberous begonias can, of course, be grown without 

 artificial heat, and will start naturally a little later in the 

 season ; they enjoy a little warmth, however, in their earlier 

 stages, and should be gradually hardened off to the outer 

 air as soon as buds appear, for these are given to drop in an 

 unpleasant fashion if kept in a close, stuffy atmosphere. 

 Here, again, they may teach some of us a lesson of the 

 extreme value of fresh air, and the danger of hot, close 

 rooms to health and beauty. Gas is poison to them, and 

 they do best in the pure air of the country ; in fact, they 

 cannot have too much of the open air after their infancy if 

 their health is to be robust. The compost which suits them 

 best is a mixture in equal parts of peat, loam, and leaf 

 mould, with charcoal in small lumps and a little soot and 

 sand ; the plants should be potted on several times as they 

 grow, never allowing the roots to be short of food, but 

 giving small shifts only. After their first potting a little 

 dried cow manure should be mixed with the compost, in 

 increasing proportion at each shift, and soot-water in a 

 weak, clear state may be given twice a week, with abundance 

 of clean water daily. They are propagated either by seed 

 or by cuttings, these last being removed from the parent 

 plant at the point of contact with the tuber, when two 

 or three inches long, and potted singly in light soil, 

 each in a separate thumb-pot. These cuttings, being very 

 succulent, require but little water, but must not be allowed 

 to droop ; and they should stand in a shady position with 



