44 THE TUBEROUS BEGONIA. 



little loam, with an equal quantity of clean coarse or sharp sand. With 

 these small pots, and such open compost, only two or three small bits of 

 crock are necessary. Place the cuttings against the side of the pot, not in 

 the middle, only just make the soil firm round them, and put them in a 

 house that is kept rather warm, close, and shady a propagating house or 

 pit, in fact either on a gentle bottom heat or on a shelf near the glass. 

 In summer they seem to do better on a bed of slightly moist ashes, coco-nut 

 fibre, or slate, and kept cool and somewhat airy at first, though carefully 

 shaded until the cuttings "stick up," then apply a gentle heat underneath 

 the bed, if possible to assist in the formation of roots. Later in the season, 

 when the sun has lost some of its power, a dry shelf or open elevated stage- 

 is better, with moderate ventilation, and shade to prevent flagging. "When 

 the cuttings show signs of callusing apply a little heat, and encourage growth .. 

 In either case when the cuttings are fairly rooted shift each into 3 or 3|-incli 

 pots, using a light mixture of loam, leaf-soil, and sand, with a little fibre, 

 and encourage the production of as large and strong a plant as possible. If 

 inserted late in the season they will not need pptting until spring, as the 

 growth will die down before the roots are sufficiently numerous to require 

 more room. Some growers put the cuttings, several together, in larger pots 

 than those we have named ; but^his plan is not to be recommended, for the 

 mass of soil seems to be too much for them, even when, like Dahlias, they 

 are inserted thickly, and if one goes wrong the rest generally follow suit. 



It is naturally a point of considerable importance to harden the cuttings as 

 much as possible before taking them, though in the case of plants in full 

 growth and bloom, which are probably more or less shaded, this cannot easily 

 be done, and the suckers or young shoots from the base aro usually more or 

 less soft and watery, so that one can only do the best possible under the 

 circumstances ; but whenever practicable, the cuttings should have been 

 previously solidified by exposure to sun and air. The atmosphere of the 

 house in which the plants are grown has a great influence on the state of 

 the tissues ; if at all moist, the growth is sure to be soft, and great difficulty 

 will be experienced in getting the cuttings to root, while, if moderately dry, 

 the process will be found much easier. 



The points of the shoots are the most difficult to deal with, but even these 

 are very useful in skilful hands ; then come stubby side shoots, taken off with 

 a heel, and the young growths produced in spring root more readily still. In 

 all cases the lower leaves must be neatly trimmed off with a sharp knife,, 

 leaving only two or three small ones at the top ; remove also any flower buds, 

 that are visible. If only the base of the cutting can be induced to callus, 

 and emit a few roots before the advent of winter, the lower part of the cutting 

 hardens and forms an incipient tuber. This will retain its vitality if kept 

 preferably in the soil and pot in which it rooted, and somewhat dry in a 

 greenhouse temperature through the winter, and will almost certainly start into 



