BEET. 



BEGONIA. 



Strong and large. Large roots are not 

 esteemed, being deficient in flavour. The 

 roots should be lifted in October, before 

 the frost sets in, for this is injurious to 

 them. In taking them up, care should 

 be taken not to break the tap root, or 

 puncture them in any way, for damage of 



they may be cultivated is equal to their 

 beauty. If raised from seed, all they 

 require is a good rich loamy soil, mixed 

 with a litile sand, and a liitle bottom 

 heat to start them say from 65 to 70. 

 The seeds should be scattered on the 

 surface of the soil, and not buried beneath 

 it. The young plants should be shaded 

 when the sun is hot and the light bright. 

 Either hotbed or stove answers every 

 purpose, provided there is a conservatory 

 or greenhouse in which they can be 

 flowered ; the chief requirements being 

 heat, moisture, and shade. Particular 

 varieties may be propagated by means of 

 leaf cuttings, which consist of well- 



UEKLS CRIMSON BEET. 



this kind tends to deprive them of their 

 colour when boiled. When taken up, the 

 leaves should be trimmed off, and the 

 roots kept in sand, so as to be perfectly 

 dry and free from the hurtful influence of 

 wet or damp. 



Beet, Spinach or White. 



The culture of this variety, which is 

 grown for the sake of its leaves and leaf 

 stalks, that are eaten like spinach in 

 autumn and winter, is similar to that of 

 beetroot or red beet, but a second sowing 

 should be made in July or August, to l>e 

 available for the winter months and spring. 



BegO'nia (/. ord. Begonia'cese). 



There are no plants more worthy of 

 admission into a conservatory than 

 begonias, and the facility with which 



BEGONIA REX. 



matured leaves scored with the point of 

 a sharp knife across the larger nerves 

 on the lower side. These should be laid 

 on sand or cocoanut fibre and held in 

 place by small pebbles or pieces of broken 

 pot. Under this treatment buiblets will 

 form at the ends of the nerves, and these, 

 when large enough, must be removed and 

 potted. The tuberous species are propa- 

 gated by division of the roots and by 

 cuttings. 



There is a delicious fragrance about 

 some of the spec'es, which particularly 

 recommends them for cultivation ; others 

 are recommended by their richly- variegated 

 foliage and graceful habit, and the* all 



