i Begonia 



may be applied. It can be flowered at any time from February until 

 October, and is available for all kinds of indoor decoration, and also 

 for growing in the open ground during the summer months. 



Instead of allowing the plants to be rudely dried off, it is worth 

 a little trouble to reduce them slowly to the dormant state by gradu- 

 ally withholding water. They should still be retained in pots, which 

 may be stored under a thick layer of ashes or dry peat in any cellar, 

 frame, or shed where the thermometer stands pretty uniformly at 

 about 50. The store should also be dry, for damp is quite as in- 

 jurious to these roots as cold. Roughly speaking, it may be said 

 that any store which is safe for Dahlias will also preserve Tuberous, 

 rooted Begonias. 



After the winter's rest the bulbs are invariably saucer-shaped, and 

 in the event of their being watered before growth has commenced, 

 sufficient water will remain in the hollow to destroy the bulb. This 

 peculiarity makes it dangerous to start the plant before activity is 

 evident. In January or February, as the bulbs show signs of life, 

 pot them almost on the surface of a rich loamy soil, and employ the 

 smallest pots possible. Nurse them with a little care in a warm 

 place for about ten days, and they should then be very gradually 

 hardened. A regular system of potting on will be necessary until 

 the final size is reached; and at each operation the plants should 

 be inserted rather deeper than before. If re-potting is deferred 

 too long, the foliage will turn yellow a sure sign that the plant is 

 starving. No flowers should be allowed in the early stages of growth, 

 and this rule is imperative if fine specimens are wanted ; but when 

 the plants are transferred just as the pots are full of roots, there 

 will be little disposition to bloom prematurely. While growing, the 

 Tuberous Begonia delights in a humid atmosphere, but this should 

 be avoided after flowering has commenced. When sticks are inserted 

 for tying out. the flowers, the bulbs must not be wounded. 



The erect-growing varieties are valuable for low conservatory 

 stages, and they form splendid groups in corners of drawing-rooms. 

 The drooping kinds are seen to advantage on brackets, shelves, and 

 in suspended baskets ; and the short-jointed plants of the drooping 

 class are specially adapted for rockeries and beds. They must not 

 be put into the open until the danger of a nipping east wind is past. 

 The early part of June is generally about the right time. 



In the autumn it is usual to lift and pot the plants, although in 

 mild districts, and in a light soil, they may safely be left out all the 

 winter under the shelter of a heap of ashes or decayed manure. In 



291 u 2 



