go PLANT PROPAGATION 
pot, allow to drain for an hour ; then sow the seed thinly, 
give the lightest sprinkling of sand, plunge the pots to 
two-thirds their depth in a bottom heat of 60 to 7o 
degrees, cover each with a sheet of glass, and this, 
again, with a sheet of paper to exclude light. Remove 
the glass every morning to dry off condensed moisture. 
As soon as Signs of growth. appear, remove the paper, 
but at all times shade from sunshine, and gradually 
increase ventilation by tilting the glass until it is alto- 
gether removed. Should the soil need moistening, 
immerse the pot nearly to the rim in water, but do not 
use the watering-pot overhead. Prick out separately or 
in tiny batches early; in due course pot off separately 
into small pots, and grow on in a position near the glass 
to keep them sturdy in a temperature of about 70 degrees. 
During winter the roots may be stored in dry coconut 
fibre or sand. . 
Foliage Begonias of the Rex section may be raised 
from seed to obtain new varieties. The method of 
increase usually practised is as follows: Fill well- 
drained pans with sandy compost, then cut off some 
mature leaves, shorten the leaf-stalks and insert them in 
the soil with the blades of the leaves spread flat on the 
surface, cutting through the thicker veins. Put a stone 
or potsherd wherever required to weight the leaves down 
to the soil and keep them from moving; then place in a 
warm, moist heat of 75 to85 degrees, and afford shade— 
indeed, this section delights in shade. Young plants 
grow from wherever the veins of the leaves have been 
cut, and when of sufficient size may be put separately 
into small pots and treated as seedlings. 
Autumn and Winter Flowering Begonias of the Soco- 
trana race are by some raised by inserting leaves singly 
