96 BULBS AND THEIR * CULTIVATION. 



compost of equal parts peat, loam, leaf-mould, decayed 

 manure, and silver sand, and burying the tubers two 

 inches deep. Place the pots in a temperature of 70 to 75 

 deg., and give no water till the shoots appear, then gradu- 

 ally increase the supply. Train the shoots to stakes up 

 to the rafters; then secure them, as they grow, to wires. 

 In summer the quaint flowers will then appear, and have 

 a pretty effect hanging on long stalks from the shoots. 

 In autumn give less water as the foliage and shoots decay, 

 and, finally, keep dry till January or February. The 

 shoots may, if desired, be trained round stakes in the pots, 

 but a prettier effect is obtained when grown up the roof. 

 Eeadily increased by seeds sown in a temperature of 75 

 deg. in spring; or division of the tubers in February. 



The species are: Simplex, orange, yellow; simplex 

 Plantii, yellow and red; simplex grandiflora, orange and 

 yellow, large; superba, orange-red. The last-named is 

 the most popular species. All grow four to eight feet 

 high, and flower in summer. 



Gloxinia. The correct generic name of this genus is 

 Sinningia, but, as the old name is more familiar, we retain 

 it. The parent of the present race of Gloxinias (Sin- 

 ningia or Gloxinia speciosa) originally came from Brazil in 

 the year 1815. Many people manage to grow gloxi- 

 nias in the cool greenhouse, but they never thrive or 

 flower so well as when grown in the plant stove, or in the 

 warm greenhouse. Anyway, they are best grown there 

 until they begin to flower, when they may be removed to 

 a cooler temperature. The flowers are large, tubular, 

 self-coloured, or prettily spotted. All the forms are 

 exceedingly attractive, and, when the plants are well 

 furnished with their thick, fleshy foliage as a base for the 

 handsome flowers, there are few plants to equal them in 

 beauty. 



Gloxinias are easily reared from seeds. Fill a pan or 

 shallow box with sandy peat and leaf -mould, press the sur- 

 face down evenly with a piece of flat board, dust it over 



