266 The Cultivation of the Fuchsia. 



the one in rich turfy loam and dung, the other in a poor worn- 

 out soil, mixed with a few pieces of broken bricks ; the conse- 

 quence was, that the former grew most luxuriantly, and 

 showed no flowers at all till late in the fall, whereas the other 

 made a very short growth, and flowered profusely the greater 

 part of the season. The less robust varieties, such as Ve- 

 nus victrix, globosa, &c. do better when planted in good 

 loam, with about a third part of well decomposed ma- 

 nure. 



Cuttings of all the varieties root so readily, that it is un- 

 necessary to enter into any detail concerning their propaga- 

 tion by this means, further than to remark that, when young, 

 they should not be allowed to flower. This, they are very 

 apt to do, even in the cutting pot. All such blooms should 

 be picked off on their first appearance. 



There is little difficulty in growing large specimens of the 

 fuchsia. Old plants should be pruned back to within two or 

 three joints immediately after they have completed their 

 growth in the fall ; they need but little further care all win- 

 ter ; they should be kept from frost, and get very little, if any, 

 water. I generally make a practice of keeping them under 

 the stage in the greenhouse, where I find they require no 

 water at all until I wish them to grow in the spring. I then 

 give a liberal supply, and, after they show signs of growth, 

 turn them out of the pots, and shake the greater part of the 

 old soil away from the roots, repotting them in fresh soil, in 

 about the same sized pots, and watering carefully until they 

 make fresh roots. I have tried them in all temperatures, and 

 I find that the most handsome and most profuse flowering 

 plants are those grown in a common greenhouse, where air is 

 liberally admitted on all favorable opportunities. Larger 

 plants can be produced when grown in a warm, close, moist 

 atmosphere; but I fear little contradiction in saying that, 

 with regard to flowering plants in general, beauty is a qual- 

 ity to be appreciated before size. When the pots are filled 

 with roots, they may get another shift, and pinch the points 

 out of all the shoots. They will thus make large plants, al- 

 though they will be later in flowering. 



Corymbiflora does well when planted out of doors in sum- 

 mer in a poor soil, where it will have plenty of room to dis- 



