654 General Notices. 



an inch of the top, and fill the remainder with fine silver sand ; give a gen- 

 tle watering from a fine-rosed watering pot to settle tlie sand, then prepare 

 the cuttings: take them off about 1^ inch long, trim off the lower leaves 

 carefully with a very sharp knife, without injuring the bark ; set the bell 

 glass upon the sand to make a mark, and within that mark, put in the cut- 

 tings in neat rows across the pot ; keep each variety by itself. Proceed till 

 the number desired to be multiplied is all planted ; then give a second 

 gentle watering to settle the sand close to the cuttings ; let them stand half 

 an hour in the shade to dry the wet off the leaves ; then place the bell 

 glasses upon them, and set them in a gentle heat, shading them every day 

 when the sun shines. Also, let the glasses be wiped dry every morning for 

 a month, and by that time the cuttings will begin to grow. To check them 

 from drawing up weakly uncover them for an hour or two every morning ; 

 and when they are rooted remove them into a cooler house for three or four 

 weeks, leaving the glasses off in dull weather, and shading them from hot 

 sunshine ; by that time they will be fit to pot off. If there is a considerable 

 number and room is scarce, they may be put into three inch pots, four in a 

 pot, and allowed to remain in them till the following spring. When they 

 are potted off out of the cutting pot, place them in a cold frame close to 

 the glass, and shade till they are fairly established, to cause them to form 

 branches close to the pots ; snip off the tops as soon as they begin to grow 

 afresh ; and when they have filled the small pots with roots, repot them, 

 and afterwards treat them in the same manner as the established plant. — 

 {Gard. Chron., 1853, p. 679.) 



Gloxinias, their Treatment, with a List of a few of the 

 Choicest. — Of the vast number of stove and greenhouse plants now culti- 

 vated, there are but few possessing more beauty and variety than Gloxinias, 

 and I think there is not another genus of plants that gives us so much of 

 their beauty as Gloxinias do. They are easy, too, of cultivation, which is 

 an additional recommendation. I shall here give some plain particulars 

 how they may be cultivated to that perfection they are capable of, their 

 period of blooming, with other matters concerning them, and a list of a few 

 of the best kinds, with their colors, to enable readers who would wish to 

 form a collection to select therefrom ; and those that have a small collec- 

 tion, and wish to add to the same, they will find the varieties undermen- 

 tioned to give the greatest satisfaction. 



Of the soil best adapted for Gloxinias, there has a great deal been said 

 and written ; the fact is, most gardeners have their own little way of mix- 

 ing the soil, some liking it rough, and others fine, &c. ; but they will be 

 found to succeed best in the compost I now describe. Supposing the bulb 

 is about the size of a Jllbert nut, a pot forty-eight sized, must be used for the 

 first potting, and the compost to consist of one part leaf mould, one part 

 hazel-loam, and two parts peat, — the whole to be mixed well together, and 

 to be used in a moderately rough state. A sprinkling of sand may be used, 

 to keep the soil free. In potting, use clean pots ; and the a-ncks to be clean 

 too, as nothing is of more importance in the growtli of most plants than 

 thorough good drainage. Aft;er the plants are ready for another shift, 



