134 The Fuchsia. 



In a fortnight, if the day temperature of the room has been about seven- 

 ty-two degrees, the plants will need a second shift into larger pots; and this 

 repotting should be continued as fast as the roots touch the sides of the pots, 

 until they are in ten or twelve inch pots, which are large enough to bloom 

 them in the house : in the greenhouse, they may be still potted on if desira- 

 ble. By the first of June, the plants will be about two feet high, with sym- 

 metrical side-branches, and may now be allowed to set bloom : previous 

 to this, any buds should have been nipped out as soon as they appeared. 

 The plants will soon be a mass of bloom, and will continue so all summer. 

 As soon as bloom is over, set the pots out of doors to ripen the wood ; 

 and, on the approach of frost, store them in a cool frost-proof cellar. They 

 will need little if any water till the season for repotting. 



When that time arrives, — which may be from January to April, according 

 to the time when bloom is wanted, — the plants should be taken from the 

 pots, the old soil shaken out, the roots pruned, and the tops trimmed so as 

 to make the plant pyramidal. Place them in gentle heat, water them, and 

 they will soon send out leaves. The pruning should be done by stopping 

 the leading shoots and nipping the laterals, that all may break and grow 

 regularly. The lower branches often refuse to break unless the leader is 

 severely headed in. When the plant is thus growing symmetrically, pro- 

 ceed in culture as in the previous year ; only the plants will require larger 

 pots in proportion to their size. Fuchsias are propagated by cuttings for 

 the increase of old varieties, by seed for the production of new. 



Cuttings should be the young shoots taken from old plants in early 

 spring : they should be about an inch long, and be rooted in sandy loam 

 or silver sand, with a slight bottom-heat under a bell-glass. In parlor-cul- 

 ture, they may be struck under a tumbler. When well rooted, pot on as 

 before directed. 



Many species produce berries very freely. When the fruit is ripe, the seed 

 should be washed out and dried. 



In early spring, sow it in shallow pans in sandy loam, and pot on the 

 young plants as cuttings. 



As bedding-plants, fuchsias are too apt to run to foliage and give little 

 flower, especially if young plants are used. Old standards, however, some- 

 times bloom finely, and need only to be planted out in common soil. 



