January 10, 1871. ] 



JOURNAL OJ? HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



41 







WEEKLY 



CALENDAR. 















"o7 



Month 



"o7 



Week. 



JANUARY 19-25, 1871. 



Average Tempcra- 

 tiu'e near Loudon. 



Eain in 

 43 yeara. 



Sun 

 Eises. 



Sun 



Sets. 



Moon 

 Rises. 



Bloon 

 Sets. 



Moon's 



Age. 



Clock 



before 



Sun. 



Day 



of 



Year. 



19 

 20 

 21 

 22 

 23 

 24 

 25 



Th 



F 



S 



Son 



M 



Tn 



W 



Twilight ends 6.25 p.ii. 



3 Sdndat aftek Epipiiahy. 



Day breaks 5.52 a.m. 



Day. 

 43.1 

 42.4 

 42.9 

 43.1 

 42.6 

 43.1 

 43.4 



Ni.k'ht. 

 80.6 

 80.6 

 32.0 

 32 3 

 32.4 

 32.1 

 32.3 



Mean. 

 36-9 

 36.5 

 37.5 

 37.7 

 87.5 

 37.6 

 87.9 



DavB. 

 20 

 15 

 20 

 18 

 18 

 19 

 21 



m. h. 

 57af7 

 66 7 

 55 7 

 64 7 

 63 7 

 62 7 

 51 7 



m. h. 

 24af4 

 2G 4 

 28 4 

 SO 4 

 33 4 



33 4- 



34 4 



m. h. 

 43 af 6 

 43 7 



33 8 

 8 9 



34 9 

 58 9 

 18 10 



m. h. 

 87af 2 

 43 3 

 68 4 

 14 6 

 82 7 

 45 8 

 67 9 



Lavs. 

 28 

 29 

 ® 



1 

 2 



8 



4 



m. 8. 



10 56 



11 15 

 11 32 



11 49 



12 4 



13 19 

 13 34 



19 

 20 

 21 

 22 

 ■ 23 

 24 

 25 



From observations taken near London during fortv-three years, tlie average dav temperature of the week is 42.9^, and its nir^ht tempera- 

 ture 81.8''. The greatest lieat was 68', on the 19th, iS'28 ; and the lowest cold iP "below zero, on the 19lh, 1833. The greatest fall of rain was 

 0.90 inch. 



WINTER-FIiOWERING BEGONIAS. 



'LOWERS are at all seasons valuable — never 

 more so than at midwinter, and of plants 

 blooming at that time Begonias are in my 

 opinion amongst the most useful, whether as 

 plants in the stove or as furnisliiug cut flowers 

 for vases, epergnes, &o., for dinner-tables, for 

 the elevated parts of which it is desirable to 

 have suspended or drooping over the margin 

 flowers which have a similar disposition on 

 the plant. Fuchsias, than which nothing can 

 be more beautiful in summer, are of this description, and so 

 are the brilliant scarlet Begonia fuchsioides and the bright 

 pink B. ereota multiflora in winter. 



Begonias are of very easy culture, no roasting heat nor 

 vapour-bath atmosphere is needed for their successful treat- 

 ment. A kind of house which is neither a stove nor a 

 greenhouse, in other words an intermediate house, suits 

 them. From March to September they will thrive in a 

 vinery as well as anywhere ; the moisture and increasing 

 temperature, with the free air-giving, induce a free but 

 sturdy growth, and the subsequent dryness needed for the 

 ripening of the Grapes also secures the ripening of the 

 wood of the Begonias, and gives a wholesome check to 

 the plants ; for, when placed in the stove, they are again 

 excited into growth by the moisture, and their tendency is 

 to flower at once. I must now enter more into details, and 

 shall commence with February. 



In February the plants which are more than a year old 

 ■will be out of flower, or nearly so, though some are truly 

 perpetual-flowering ; very unlike Perpetual Roses, which 

 oftener bloom once than twice, to say nothing of being 

 half the year dreary-looking objects. The old plants of 

 Begonias will in February be past their best, and w^e shall 

 keep them rather dry, but not so as to cause them to go 

 quite off. From the base of the previous year's growth 

 will come some strong shoots, which should be kept grow- 

 ing : therefore give a little water, but not much, from the 

 time the plants begin to cease flowering, and early in Jlarch 

 they will be at their worst. Never mind this, but turn 

 them out of the pots, and, removing all the old soil that 

 can be done without destroying every particle of root, pot 

 them in a size of pot— clean both mside and outside— that 

 wiU hold them comfortably. Good drainage must be given 

 them, and to keep it efiicient cover it lightly with moss, 

 or better, with the rough parts of the compost. The com- 

 post may consist of the turf of a common where the soil is 

 half loam half peat, and full of sand— a kind of soil in 

 which Foxgloves and nearly all Ferns flourish, more so 

 than in so-called peat, which is very often nothing but a 

 soapy bog soil. If this cannot be had, then one part light 

 turfy loam, the more turfy the better, chopped up small, 

 one part sandy peat, and one part old dry cow dung, or 

 failing that, leaf soil, with a sixth part, or half as much as 

 the others, of silver sand, and the like of charcoal in pieces 

 from the size of peas to that of walnuts ; or boiled half- 

 inch bones form a good substitute. Mix all together, aud 

 the whole will be a nice open compost, and with this pot 

 No. 612.— Vol. XX., New Semes, 



the plants rather firmly, but not very tightly. Place them 

 in the vinery if you have one started in February, and the 

 sprinklings of water and the moist atmosphere will be most 

 agreeable. Water carefully and sparingly until the plants 

 begin to grow freely, and their doing so will be an indica- 

 tion of their having taken to the fresh soil. The moisture 

 needed for the Vines will be all they require, and as to 

 water none will be wanted as long as the soil remains 

 moist, but when it is becoming dry give a supply of water 

 sufficient to show itself at the drainage. At the same 

 time the plants must not be allowed to sufl'er from want of 

 water. It is the watering regularly, and when the soil is 

 moist enough for every requirement, that renders plants 

 so sickly in the hands of amateurs as a rule, and of gar- 

 deners also at times. 



By June the pots will be full of roots, and the plants 

 growing freely. Shift them into pots a size larger, and 

 use the same compost as before, with good drainage. Do 

 not give a large shift, for the one-shift system is not suited 

 to Begonias, nor, indeed, to more than 1 per cent, of all 

 the plants in cultivation. If the plants do well they will 

 have made good growth by the end of July, and will then 

 need a drier atmosphere, but being in a vinery they will 

 have that on account of the ripening of the Grapes ; yet 

 i if they are growing (and B. fuchsioides may be so, while 

 j B. Dregei may be flowering), remove them if you can to a 

 ! later vinery. Shift again into larger pots at the end of July 

 j or the beginning of August, and they wdll continue growing 

 up to September. Then, or at whatever time the plants 

 have made a good growth, and seem to have ceased growing, 

 give them plenty of room, which they ought to have at all 

 times, and supply no more water than enough to keep the 

 foliage fresh. Subject them to a month of this ripening 

 process, and then remove them to a stove where there is 

 a temperature of 50° to 5.5° at night, and 00° to 05° by 

 day — they will bloom from September to February. 



The only pruning the plants require is to cut out any 

 worn-out shoots, but none that remain healthy. When, 

 however, they become weak, and there are plenty of fresh 

 and vigorous shoots from the base, remove them close to 

 the surface of the soil. No training is needed, except it 

 be putting in a neat stake the height of the plant, and 

 tying the main shoots loosely to it, but it is only the 

 straggling growths that need this. Stopping and other 

 pruning Begonias will not endure, as by it we remove the 

 blooming parts, and cause fresh shoots to push up from 

 the root. 



Failing a vinery, or if it be inconvenient to grow the plants 

 there, they may remain in the stove through the summer, 

 but from May to the middle of September they would do 

 much better in a greenhouse than in a hot moist stove. 

 Slight shade from bright sun in the hottest season of the 

 year is necessary, whilst from August to April they cannot 

 have too much light. 



Besides old or large plants I grow a number of smaller 

 ones. Early in June I take cuttings of the strongest parts, 

 such as are rather firm, or not very gross, and .3 or 4 inches 

 long. Cutting transversely below a joint, and removing 

 the leaves halfway up, I insert the cuttings singly in -S-inch 



No. 1164.— Vol. XLV., Old Series. 



