66 The Flower Garden [Chapter 



The seeds of Rex and other Begonias are so fine as 

 to look like dust. They should be sown on the surface 

 of the soil, in flats in the house, in February or March, 

 and an even temperature maintained. They germi- 

 nate in eight or ten days, and the greatest care is re- 

 quired to keep the tender seedlings from damping off 

 or drying out. The tiny plants appear first as a vague 

 green bloom on the face of the soil, and a magnifying 

 glass is necessary to show that each infinitesimal green 

 point is possessed of a pair of leaves. From this time 

 on it is a delight to watch the development of char- 

 acter in the leaf quite tiny plants showing different 

 markings. I have never raised two Rex Begonias 

 exactly alike. When the little plants are large enough 

 to handle prick them out into other flats, setting them 

 an inch apart each way. When an inch high put into 

 two-inch pots of leaf-mould, and plunge the pots in a 

 pan of wet sand in a cool, north window where bulbs 

 are growing, if possible, as the constant evaporation 

 from these keeps the air moist. This is an important 

 consideration in the culture of Begonias, and in winter 

 water should be kept on stove, radiator or register to 

 supply moisture. Among the fine bedding, fibrous- 

 rooted Begonias the new Vulcan, a fiery scarlet; Ver- 

 non, a deep red; Erfordii, a soft pink, and the dwarf 

 Bijou are the best. By starting these during January 

 and February in flats in the house they may be bedded 

 out in early summer. If planted in the house in 

 January, transplanted to flats, and thence to the hot- 



