110 



GREENHOUSE MANAGEMENT. 



winter they are dried off and packed away. They are 

 readily grown from seed or by means of leaf cuttings, 

 but when only a few plants are required, it will bo as 

 well, even for the florist, to buy one-year "dried roots." 

 These should be potted in February or March, in three- 

 or four-inch pots, according to 

 their size, the top of the bulb being 

 just level with the surface, and 

 placed near the glass in a tem- 

 perature of sixty degrees, where 

 they will have a little bottom 

 heat. Until the leaves start, 

 very little water will be required, 

 but from that time it should be 

 gradually increased, giving the 

 plants all they can use, as, if at 

 any time they are allowed to wilt, 

 the flowers will be much in- 

 jured. Gloxinias do well in a 

 compost of two parts of rotten pasture sod and one part 

 of well-rotted cow manure, to which enough sand is 

 added to open up the soil. Instead of the rotten sods, 

 equal parts of garden loam and leaf mold may be used. 

 Thorough drainage should be given by filling the 

 pots two-thirds full of charcoal, or broken crocks, cov- 

 ered with a layer of sphagnum. As soon as the leaves 

 extend beyond the edges of the pots, the plants should 

 be shifted to the five- or six-inch size, in which they can 

 be flowered, or sold as house plants. If designed for use 

 as cut flowers, they can be planted out from the small 

 pots, or the boxes, in which they may be started, either 

 on benches in the greenhouse or in frames outside, 

 where much less care will be required. When thus 

 grown, they should be mulched with sphagnum. 



During the season of growth, every precaution 

 should be taken that they do not receive a check. 



FIG. 38. GLOXINIA. 



