476 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 241. 



growths that arise from the tubers in spring may be taken ; 

 but the fact must not be overlooked tliat to take the same hb- 

 erties with them as with Dahlias would be ruinous to a good 

 display of bloom on the old plants for a season. The cuttings 

 should be inserted singly against the side of thumb-pots in a 

 compost consisting of loam, leaf-soil and sand, in about equal 

 proportions, and plunged in cocoanut-fibre in the bed of a 

 propagating pit or frame, and shaded till they have emitted 

 roots, and may be grown on if required for late blooming. 

 The young plants should be kept in the cutting-pots till the 

 following spring, and this is the more essential in the case of 

 late-struck cuttings, but, where practicable, the latter should 

 be potted and kept growing. 



Propagation by seeds is at once the most legitimate, speedy, 

 profitable and certain mode of increasing this class of Be- 

 gonias, either for pot-culture or summer bedding. There will 

 always be a certain amount of speculation with regard to the 

 color, habit and character of the seedlings the first year, but, 

 if derived from a good strain, they seldom fail to give satis- 

 faction, and may be assorted for future work as they come into 

 bloom. They may be sown at almost any time of the year, 

 according to the convenience and requirements of an estab- 

 lishment. For my purpose I find the third or fourth week in 

 January is the most suitable. Those who have a sufficient 

 command of fire heat will find it advantageous to sow early 

 in the year, as the seedlings are less liable to damp off than 

 when they are germinated in May, June or July. 



The seeds are sown in square, round or oblong pans or 

 shallow wooden boxes, in a compost of light porous material, 

 consisting of flaky leaf-soil, a little loam and plenty of sharp 

 sand. This is mixed, and used in a rough state, with some 

 finely sifted material on the top to form a smooth and level 

 seed-bed, which is pressed firm, watered, or more suitably 

 dipped, and then the diminutive seeds carefully sown. The 

 pans or boxes are placed in a temperature of sixty-five to 

 seventy degrees, with more bottom-heat. The seedlings are 

 pricked out into other boxes from time to time, as soon as they 

 can be handled, with a finely pointed piece of wood divided at 

 the point to lift the seedlings. As they germinate very un- 

 equally, and in succession, the work of pricking them off em- 

 ploys some men and boys for weeks together. When the 

 seedlings begin to get crowded they are transplanted into other 

 boxes at a greater distance apart. By the middle of May they 

 are ready for hardening off. During the first three weeks of 

 June a staff of men and boys were constantly employed in 

 planting those now in the open ground. By this time a large 

 proportion of them have commenced to bloom, and several 

 thousand of the most promising doubles, some of them gems, 

 are transferred to 48-size pots and placed in new houses 

 specially built for their reception. 



The ground in which the seedlings are planted out is heavily 

 manured and roughly dug up to the action of frost in autumn. 

 Old tubers intended for bedding out should be started about 

 the last week in March or the beginning of April ; small-sized 

 pots will be quite sufficient for them. A warm and showery 

 month of June, and rather drier weather in July and August, 

 are most favorable to Begonias in the open ground. 



For pot plants one-year-old tubers are the most generally 

 useful ; but those of two or three years' growth make the 

 finest specimen plants. When four years old they degenerate, 

 some sooner, some later ; hence the necessity of raising young 

 plants to keep up the standard of perfection. The first batch 

 of plants may be started about the end of January or the be- 

 ginning of February, and they will flower in April or May, 

 according to the amount of sunshine they enjoy or the arti- 

 ficial heat used. Successional batches of tubers niay be put 

 into heat during March or April to flower in June or July, and 

 be it observed, that the more slowly they are brought forward, 

 the more sturdy and durable will they be. Put them singly in 

 small pots proportionately to the size of the tubers, in a com- 

 post consisting of equal parts of fibrous loam, leaf-soil, and 

 sand in a rough or lumpy condition. Press the soil rather 

 firmly, if short growth and a long season are desired, merely 

 covering the top of the tuber. Stand the pots on a bed of 

 cocoanut-fibre or plunge them into it, and keep the temper- 

 ature of the house at sixty-five to seventy degrees. Should 

 the soil be dry at potting time, give a watering ; but after that 

 it should be applied with discretion till the plants begin to 

 grow freely. Tubers that have been wintered in pots may be 

 put into heat, watered a little, and afterward damped down 

 with the syringe till they start into growth, and then repotted 

 into suitably smaller sizes. Light is of great importance in the 

 early months of the year, and it is all-important that the plants 

 should be kept as near the glass as possible, after they have start- 

 ed into growth, to encourage a short-jointed and sturdy growth. 



Repot the plants before they become root-bound, and as 

 the season advances, and the temperature outside becomes 

 milder, gradually give more and more ventilation, for upon a 

 cool and airy atmosphere a great deal of success in Begonia- 

 culture depends. Low span-roofed houses give most satis- 

 faction. The soft and watery tissue of Begonias soon responds 

 to favorable or unfavorable conditions ; therefore let them 

 have a house to themselves where possible, and no make-shift 

 permitted. The smaller plants may be grown on the side 

 shelves on ashes or cocoanut-fibre, while the larger and taller 

 specimens may be elevated on shelving, staging tier above 

 tier in the centre of the house and near the glass. A free play 

 of air among the foliage keeps it fresh and healthy, and a 

 dry atmosphere prevents the spotting of either flowers or foli- 

 age, as the weather gets warm about April and onwards. 

 More or less shading during the heat of the day will be re- 

 quired after that month. When the plants have finished flower- 

 ing or become useless for decorative purposes, stand them out- 

 of-doors, in a sunny position, but sheltered from wind, and 

 keep them watered till the leaves show signs of decay, after 

 which water may gradually be withheld till the tubers ripen 

 and the stems drop away. Remove them indoors on the ap- 

 proach of frosty nights. 



Tuberous Begonias as Bedding-plants. 



'T'HESE new-comers, which have so greatly pleased us the 

 ■'■ past three years, have been disappointing this season, 

 though not from any fault of their own, or not from any cause 

 that willimpairtheirusefulnessinthefuture. The trouble is that 

 their true character has not been recognized. The enthusiastic 

 grower has claimed too much for them when he asserts that tliey 

 can be grown in the same manner as the Gladiolus, and that 

 the tubers can be kept dry and planted out when and where 

 wanted just as the Gladiolus can. This mistake has cost many 

 amateurs a good many plants, and has made them cautious 

 about buying, and in some cases has quite discouraged them. 

 This should not be, as the plant is all that has been claimed for 

 it, and more. 



The past year, it is true, has been a hard one for the Tuberous 

 Begonia, as it has been for almost every other plant. Heat 

 and moisture have not been proporfionate. But the present 

 season has only proved to us that this plant is not injured by 

 hot weather, as is shown by the display made when it is grown 

 on a large scale. Although the losses in the nursery have 

 been considerable, they have been of great value in the line of 

 practical knowledge. The lesson learned is, that it must be 

 treated as a bedding-plant, and as such must have a good start 

 in the greenhouse, and not transferred to the border until in a 

 thrifty, growmg state. The plants should be from four to six 

 inches high, and proportionately strong when set out ; then, 

 even in a season like the present, they have no rivals. Those 

 put out in Mr. Griffin's nursery this season, when well started, 

 are marvels of beauty and healthfulness ; they do not show in 

 the least the effects of a drought or of heat. Those that were 

 too young, and but little started, have suffered badly. The 

 same is sliown plainly in many other places, proving most 

 conclusively that this plant has come to stay, and that it far 

 surpasses anything we have in the way of low-growing bedding- 

 plants, and, further, that to grow it successfully, plants, strong 

 and well grown, must be put out, rather than dry tubers. 



Floral Park, N. Y. C. L. Allen. 



Planting Perennials. 



MANY persons are now inquiring as to the best time to 

 plant hardy herbaceous plants, and as the season is 

 here when the operation may safely be carried out a few notes 

 on the general subject will be timely. It has been stated that 

 all hardy plants may be planted in spring, and the inference is 

 that that is the best season to transplant. This is true with 

 regard to shallow-rooting plants or those whicli are of small 

 size when fully developed, but the trouble is, that in all gar- 

 dens, large or small, the arrival of spring inevitably brings 

 with it a rush of work peculiar to the season, and when this is 

 completed many of the earliest border-plants are already well 

 advanced, perhaps more so elsewhere than in our own gar- 

 dens, and this adds to the risk of procuring them in spring. 

 Last fall we found that Elm-roots had complete possession of 

 a large border here, and at this season the whole of the plants 

 were lifted, the border dug two feet deep and enriched, and 

 the plants moved over as the work proceeded, and not a plant 

 was lost. The season was a favorable one ; the roots took hold 

 at once, and when frost came the plants were well established. 

 This spring we had six weeks of dry weather without a shower 



