THE TUBEROUS BEGONIA. 



Now give a very gentle shower with a fine-rosed pot or syringe, and repeat 

 this until the soil is thoroughly moistened; let the surface dry a little, and 

 about half-an-hour afterwards sow the seed evenly and thinly, | giving the 

 merest dusting of the fine soil afterwards, just to keep the seed in its place, 

 but not enough to cover it. If the pans have been properly filled, and the 

 soil is in the right condition, every drop of water that falls upon the surface 

 should be immediately absorbed. Now set the pans on the bed, plunging 

 them in the coco-nut fibre refuse nearly up to the rims, and cover them 

 with sheets of glass, and these again with paper to exclude the sun and 

 strong light. These glasses, however, should not be kept on too closely ; 

 indeed, it is preferable to tilt them slightly from the first, or to raise them 

 up by some means an inch or two above the pans, so as to allow the air to 

 circulate gently beneath. If they lie too closely, a kind of mould or white 

 fungus often forms on the surface of the soil, and seriously injures the 

 young seedlings when they appear. "Wipe the under side of the glasses dry 

 every morning, keep the soil evenly moist, and the temperature regular, 

 shading from hot sun, and in ten days or a fortnight the seedlings will 

 appear, when the paper must at once be removed, except when the sun is 

 shining strongly. Begonia seed is almost always more or less irregular in 

 germinating, however fresh and good it may be ; and, indeed, as with most 

 other subjects, the more choice and highly bred the seed is the more shy 

 it is of germinating freely ; so do not despair if very few make their appear- 

 ance at first. 



TREATMENT AFTER GERMINATION. 



THE main thing to attend to after the seeds have germinated is to keep the soil 

 regularly moist. Beware of its becoming dry just beneath the surface, for, 

 strangely enough, if this occurs the seedlings will damp off wholesale. Also 

 keep the tops comparatively dry, or, at least, ensure the foliage being free 

 from moisture during the latter part of the day and at night. Therefore, 

 when water is required, give a thorough soaking with a fine rose sufficient 

 to penetrate the soil to the drainage, or if damp is troublesome, stand the 

 pots or pans in a vessel of water up to an inch below the level of the soil 

 for ten minutes, which will thoroughly moisten it, and leave the tops dry. 

 Gradually remove the sheets of glass- until the plants are strong enough to 

 bear full exposure to the atmosphere of the house, and change this occa- 

 sionally by opening the roof- ventilators a few inches for three or four hours 

 on fine days. The tender seedlings must at all times be lightly shaded from 

 strong sunshine. 



When the young plants are showing the first rough leaf (i.e., the first 

 beyond the seed leaves), they must be pricked off singly. This may be per- 

 formed even earlier than this almost directly they are up, if damping 

 should set in, as will sometimes happen in spite of the greatest care ; and, 



