Gardening for Amateurs 



529 



About the middle of February the increase 

 of stock by division of the roots and cuttings 

 must be taken in hand. To ensure the quick 

 rooting of the latter a propagating frame is 

 very desirable, but not absolutely necessary. 

 An old plant kept from the previous year 

 can usually be divided up into six or eight 

 pieces, which should be potted up singly in 

 small pots. In the case of cuttings, dibble 

 three or four round the sides of a small pot ; 

 these will soon root in a small frame in the 

 greenhouse, and can then be potted off 



will probably provide sufficient moisture 

 until young shoots push up. When fresh 

 growths are 2 or 3 inches high transfer the 

 plants singly to pots or set them out about 

 6 inches apart in larger boxes. When this is 

 being done the larger tubers may, if desired, 

 be cut in half (each half should possess at 

 least one shoot), shaking powdered charcoal 

 over the cut surface. When crowded the 

 growths may be thinned out and inserted 

 as cuttings singly in small pots of sandy soil 

 instead of being thrown away. Place them 



Single -flowered Tuberous Begonias. 



singly in small pots. A move into larger 

 pots will be necessary in April ; finally the 

 plants are hardened off in cold frames during 

 May for planting out of doors early in June. 

 Spring Treatment. Place the tubers 

 fairly close together in shallow trays or 

 boxes filled loosely with 2 parts leaf -mould, 

 1 part loam, and 1 part coarse sand. 

 Press them into the soil, but do not cover 

 the tops. Place the boxes in a warm part 

 of the greenhouse or on a mild hotbed 

 made up in a cold frame. Keep the at- 

 mosphere and soil moist by syringing; this 

 34 



in a closed propagating frame preferably 

 having a slight bottom heat. Grow plants, 

 divisions and rooted cuttings in a green- 

 house or hotbed until the first week in May, 

 then gradually harden off in a cold frame, 

 and plant outside the beginning of June. 



Types and Varieties. It is a question 

 to be decided by the grower whether the 

 beds and groups of single-flowered Begonias 

 in the borders shall consist of one colour or 

 be mixed. Seeds or tubers of the following 

 colours can be purchased separately or in 

 mixture : crimson, -scarlet, salmon, rose, 



