INTRODUCTION. 6 



The propagation of the Begonia, either by means of cuttings or from seed, 

 is a delicate and tedious or uncertain operation, compared with the ease with 

 which Pelargonium cuttings may be rooted in quantity by the merest tyro. 

 On the other hand, Pelargoniums must be wintered in a properly constructed 

 and efficiently heated glasshouse, must receive daily attention, and occupy a 

 large amount of space ; whereas, in the case of Begonias, all such care and 

 expense is entirely unnecessary, and a hundred nay, a thousand Begonia roots 

 may be stored in the space occupied by a dozen Pelargoniums ; and more than 

 this, any out-of-the-way place or odd corner, such as under a greenhouse stage, 

 or in a shed, or kitchen cupboard even provided frost is thoroughly excluded 

 will afford all the accommodation they need. Throughout the whole winter 

 all the attention they require is to be looked over two or three times, picking 

 out any decayed tubers, and seeing that they are neither in danger of rotting 

 from damp, nor of shrivelling from excessive dryness. In warm and sheltered 

 localities, or on light, dry soils, the roots may even be allowed to remain in 

 the ground all winter with perfect safety, if well established. Even severe 

 frost will not injure them under such conditions, if not too near the surface, 

 though in any case it is advisable to cover each plant or row with a few 

 inches depth of ashes, or coco-nut fibre refuse. 



The improvements that have been effected in this flower, by means of 

 skilful and persevering hybridisation, since it first attracted attention, are 

 simply marvellous, and undeniably no other flowering plant in cultivation 

 has made such rapid and wonderful strides, or undergone such remarkable 

 changes for the better in so short a time, as Tuberous Begonias. Indeed, 

 anyone who had not watched the progress that has year by year and step by 

 step been made, would scarcely credit that the huge circular and leathery 

 blooms of to-day, with their glowing or dazzling colours, could by any possi- 

 bility have been derived from the poor pale, flimsy, and long-petalled flowers 

 that the Begonias of ten or twelve years ago could produce. It must, 

 however, be admitted that some of the first seedlings raised in this country, 

 such as "Vesuvius," "Acme," "Emperor," etc., were, and still are, remark- 

 ably floriferous in character much more so than the majority of the large- 

 flowering varieties that have been more recently produced as well as being 

 more bushy in growth, and possessed of great hardiness and very vigorous 

 constitutions, when compared with some of the highly-bred productions of the 

 present day. Indeed, the varieties above named, with a few others of the 

 same class, are still retained by first-class cultivators, who endeavour, by 

 crossing them with varieties possessing larger and better formed flowers and 

 brighter colours, to obtain a race of hybrids, suitable for out-of-door culti- 

 vation, which will combine the good qualities of both strains. As a matter 

 of fact, this object has already to a great extent been attained, and there are 

 now a number of single varieties bearing fairly large and brightly-coloured 

 flowers in almost, if not quite, as great profusion as old-fashioned kinds to 



