110 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[February 10, 1863. 



heating, I do not suppose any plan is preferable for so small a 

 house to that of the old brick flue ; and by altering the furnace, 

 and bringing it a little farther on, it will adapt itself to the 

 increased size of the house. I have thought at times of hot 

 water ; but there seems to me to be so much power wasted 

 when even the smallest boiler is applied to a house of this size, 

 that I have given up the notion, especially as my only object iB 

 to keep the frost out, and I have no ambitious designs of forcing 

 or extensively propagating. 



I may take the opportunity while the pen is in my hand of 

 answering " R. A. H.'s " questions as to the Hyacinths he intends 

 exhibiting. I think he did wrong when potting not to have 

 put a larger proportion of manure. One-fourth is not enough. 

 I generally put one-half, and have known some growers make 

 it even three-fourths. However, he must now make up for it by 

 liberal supplies of liquid manure. I should prefer this, I think, 

 to guano water, considering the circumstances under which they 

 were potted. I am myself using guano. They should when 

 taken out of the ashes be gradually inured to light, and as the 

 Exhibition at which he intends to exhibit them is not to be held 

 until April, they will not require any heat but rather retarding, 

 especially if this extraordinarily mild season continue. One 

 great object he should bear in mind, is to have good foliage as 

 well as good bloom, and that, therefore, he should endeavour to 

 avoid drawing the plants, and thuB prevent the leaves from 

 hanging down and falling over the sides of the pots, than which 

 nothing can be more ugly. — D., Deal. 



WHAT DESTKOTS CROCUSES? 



As our Crocuses have come above ground this year, they have 

 been attacked by some animal, but we cannot ascertain what. The 

 stems are cleared of earth all round, and then cut about half an 

 inch from the root, the roots not eaten, and nearly the whole cut 

 stem left on the ground ; the mischief iB done at night. We 

 attributed it at first to mice, then rata ; but no sign of these 

 could be discovered, and none were caught in the traps set. These 

 generally eat the root as well. The mischief continues as the 

 flowers advance, and of late the plants are attacked as if by a pig, 

 the holes are so large about them, still only the stems are cut as 

 before described ; all our Crocus-borders are destroyed. Can 

 you suggest the cause or a remedy ?— W. W. Bennett. 



[The sparrow does the conjuring, and as it would seem through 

 sheer mischief, but in reality only to sip the nectar at the bottom 

 of the tube of the flower, while the flower is yet in bud, the 

 instinct of the bird being thus exemplified.] 



CULTUEE OF BEGONIAS. 



Vaeiety ib the most distinguishing feature in this class of 

 plants — distinct variety in the colours of the flowers and a 

 pleasing variety in the markings of the foliage, which are all 

 displayed with a graceful habit of growth during the dull winter 

 and spring months, when flowers, like many other things when 

 rare, are most valued. The majority of Begonias being natives 

 of South America and the West Indies require stove tempera- 

 ture. Some new and good sorts have of late years been pro- 

 duced by cross-breeding, and it is probable that by that means 

 a more hardy race will be created. Mr. Frost, "gardener to 

 E. L. Betts, Esq., of Preston Hall, near Maidstone, raised a 

 cross called Begonia preBtoniensis by impregnating B. cinna- 

 barina with B. nitida ; the flowers are abundant, of a brilliant 

 scarlet, fragrant as a rose ; and the plant has a shrubby habit, 

 and succeeds well in the greenhouse. 



If collectors of plants were more particular in giving us an 

 account of the localities in which the species were generally 

 found we should not be compelled to grope our way in the dark 

 so often as we are. To say that many species are natives of 

 South America is giving us a very extensive range of country to 

 investigate. The variety of climate from the summit of the lofty 

 Andes covered with snow to the vallies luxuriating in a tropical 

 temperature, with the collateral influences produced by pro- 

 pinquity to the sea or to rivers, to lakes or to mountains, should 

 suggest to every collector the necessity of giving such particulars 

 of situation, Boil, &c, as would lead us to the treatment most 

 suitable for each. It was, I suppose^ by some mere chance that 

 we have discovered, after many years of haphazard treatment, 

 that the Begonia nitida, introduced from Jamaica, will do well 



in a greenhouse temperature. The B. Evansiana, syn. discolor, 

 introduced from China, is a species very frequently found in 

 great perfection in the cottagers' windows. By cross-impregna- 

 tion with such parents of a comparatively hardy constitution we 

 shall ultimately attain a class of Begonias endowed with all the 

 properties of the best sorts, and amenable to greenhouse treat- 

 ment. 



The Begonias may be divided into three classes — the fibrous- 

 rooted, the herbaceouB, whose stems die down annually, and the 

 bulbous-rooted sorts. The most useful particular with which 

 we have been favoured by collectors is to know that they are 

 generally found to inhabit moist, shady, and secluded situations 

 in their native countries, where they are partially sheltered from 

 the direct rays of the sun and from cutting winds. In such 

 situations it is reasonable to suppose that leaf mould is the soil 

 in which they flourish. With us they delight in a moist atmo- 

 sphere with a slight shade on hot sunny days, good drainage, 

 an abundance of water in their growing season, and half leaf 

 mould and loam. They grow luxuriantly in a soil composed 

 entirely of decayed vegetable matter, but in that they are very 

 liable to rot-off at the base of the stem. Being of a most succu- 

 lent nature they would luxuriate in the atmosphere of a vapour- 

 bath, as in their native countries, without the necessity of 

 requiring much root-action. Stopping or pruning they will 

 not bear, and the only occasion on which the knife can be used 

 with safety is to cut away the old stems from all that throw up 

 strong shoots from the roots every year. To counteract the 

 tendency to rot it is advisable to slightly elevate the stem in 

 the centre of the pot. The sorts that form tubers, such as 

 B. Evansiana, diversifolia, and octopetala, should be dried- 

 off cautiously as the season of growth declines, and stored away 

 in any cool dry place for three or four months, when they may 

 be started and repotted into fresh soil. About the beginning 

 of October, when the leaves of some begin to fade and others 

 assume a languid appearance — indications of the natural rest 

 that they require — water should be gradually withheld, and 

 entirely discontinued by the first week of November. 



Although many species would remain green and healthy 

 during the winter it is not in accordance with the natural habits 

 of the plants to keep them in a continuous state of growth. 

 Indeed, all plants want a season of rest, more especially the 

 natives of tropical countries where sun and light are more 

 intense. In our dull and generally sunless winter months the 

 growth that is made by the application of artificial heat is only 

 the elongation of the parts without maturity or vigour. A 

 continuous growth is an abortion. A mature and properly 

 elaborated vigour of growth is essential to the production 

 of flowers, and a premature and excessive development of 

 the branches and foliage at such a season is injurious and 

 often destructive to the desired effect — the production of 

 flowers. 



The majority of the sorts are easily propagated by cuttings ; 

 but by many growers seedlings are preferred as not being so 

 liable to rot-off at the base of the stem. The seeds when ripe 

 are scattered upon the surface of light sandy soil, covered with 

 a bell-glass, and shaded. 



The following is a list of good sorts : — 



Begonia xanthina. — Conspicuous for its yellow flowers. 



B. prestoniensis. — Brilliant scarlet. 



B. cinnabarina. — Citron-coloured flowers. 



B.fuchsioides. — Scarlet. 



B. rubrovenia. — White, streaked with red. 



B. Tfowaitesii. — Foliage of green, deep red, purple, and violet 

 colours. 



B. Mscheri. — BluBh-coloured flowers ; foliage bright crimson 

 beneath. 



B. rupesbris. — Pinkflowers; leaves marked on the surface with 

 white silvery-looking spots. 



B. Martiana. — Pink flowers generally in pairs, but in great 

 profusion. 



B. zebrina. — Pink flowers ; leaves bright green, smooth and 

 shining, marked with dark green shades on the under side. 



B. argyrostigma. — Flowers flesh colour ; leaves dark green, 

 singularly blotched on the Burface with sEvery spots. 



B. odorata. — Pure white-flowers. 



B. nitida. — Pink flowers ; straggling habit of growth; suit- 

 able for trelliB. 



B. sanguinea. — Dark purple leaves j white flowers. 



B. omenta. —Bright soarlet flowers ; stems of a dull crimson 

 colour. 



