34 STOVE AND GREENHOUSE PLANTS. 



does not make good cuttings. These should be taken off during the period 

 of fairly rapid growth and kept growing right along, or they will be 

 apt to remain stunted and come into flower before the plant is fully 

 developed. Fuchsias will bloom in 3-inch pots, but by keeping them in 

 a growing state, with abundant root room, they can easily be grown, 

 according to the variety, from 21/0 to 4 feet in height, before the flower 

 buds make their appearance. If wanted to bloom in 5-inch pots, pinch 

 back the leading shoots, and when the pot is well filled with roots give 

 weak liquid manure frequently. This wall prolong their blooming sea- 

 son. A single supporting stick for the main stem will be all that is 

 necessary, with perhaps a few supporting strings for the lateral shoots 

 in the case of those varieties having large double flowers. The soil 

 should be well enriched with manure. 



FURCR/EA— A genus of plants closely allied to the Agaves. They 

 thrive with a little more heat than is usually given Century Plants, 

 otherwise their cultivation is pretty nearly the same. There are about 

 ten species in cultivation; those most commonly seen are F. cubensis, 

 F. gigantea and F. longa^va. The varigated form of F. gigantea is an 

 exceedingly handsome subject. 



GARDENIAS— These are only grown nowadays in general collections 

 of plants. In Summer young plants will make good growth by being 

 plunged among some porous material in a frame. Cuttings are taken 

 from ripe growths. Plants will thrive in a warm, sunny greenhouse. 



GLOXINIAS— So easily do the leaves of the Gloxinia produce tubers, 

 when properly manipulated, that it seems a roundabout way to get up 

 a supply of plants from seeds. The only drawback to the first-named 

 method, is that leaves are not always available in sufficient quantities 

 for propagating purposes. When plants are wanted in bloom before 

 midsummer, the seed should be sown in early Spring. The process of 

 raising seedlings is simple enough, if given the necessary attention; a 

 little neglect, however, when in the younger stages of their growth, is 

 very apt to occur, and that is the end of them. The seedlings are very 

 fragile for some time after germinating, and if the soil gets a trifle too 

 wet, or too dry, they suffer beyond repair. In preparing boxes or pans 

 for seed, let the soil be very porous and light, leaf mould largely predomi- 

 nating. Make very firm; give a watering, then sow; and if a covering 

 be given it should be of the lightest possible nature. If the atmosphere 

 gets at all dry, cover the receptacles with panes of glass, to prevent dry- 

 ing. If care be taken the seedlings may be allowed to grow until large 

 enough to be potted off singly in 2-inch pots, or they may be pricked off 

 thickly into boxes previous to potting off. For flowering late in Sum- 

 mer or early in Fall, sowings maj^ be made as late as the beginning of 

 July. In propagating from the leaves, various methods are employed. 

 The one most commonly in use is to take the entire leaf, make incisions 

 in the under parts of the principal veins (or they may be cut through); 

 lay the leaves flat on the sand with the stalk buried, and give only 

 enough water to prevent drying up. Small tubers will form at the inci- 

 sions and at the end of the stalk. During this process no leaves are 

 formed, and the tubers should be harvested and rested for the Winter in 



