BEGONIAS 45 



off, and it is when the succeeding breaks have made satisfactory 

 progress that the final shift into 48*8 should be given. Then 

 again, when established, and not before, these new breaks should 

 be pinched, and finally each plant must be supported by a neat 

 stick about a foot long, and the side shoots looped to it. 



BEGONIAS 



Fibrous-rooted Begonias are essentially greenhouse plants, 

 of which Gloire de Lorraine is a high type. Tuberous-rooted 

 Begonias are both greenhouse and bedding plants, showing 

 more to advantage as the former, but more generally adapted 

 to the latter use. The fibrous-rooted section has been grown 

 for a century or more, and we can remember such kinds as 

 Weltoniensis, Prestoniensis, Fuchsiaoides, etc., for the past 

 sixty years, but can claim to have seen the beginning of the 

 tuberous-rooted section and to have grown them from the time 

 of their introduction. We have already referred to the method 

 of raising single and double tuberous Begonias from seed, but 

 have now briefly to allude to the propagation by cuttings of 

 choice-named double varieties and the drooping varieties 

 introduced but a few years ago. 



Having started the tubers by placing them in heat about 

 February, they send out several growths, and these, as soon as 

 they are from I to 2 inches long, are severed at their base from 

 the tuber and inserted as cuttings in a sandy, peaty soil with 

 bottom heat. They are not difficult to strike, but on the other 

 hand, a tuber produces only three or four cuttings, so that 

 their increase cannot be said to be rapid. If the cuttings are 

 well watered in they will require but little additional moisture 

 until they are rooted, which will be in about a fortnight. Pot 

 them off when this takes place and keep them in a hothouse 

 until they are established, then gradually remove them to a 

 structure less heated but still warm. 



Cuttings of the fibrous-rooted varieties may be taken in 

 March and April, inserted in sandy soil with a good bottom heat. 

 If in pots, plunge them into the propagating bed and keep the 

 lights closed except for a half hour daily. They respond best 

 to warm treatment and ought not to take their chances among 



