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THE GAEDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



Begonia (Tuberous Section). — The most 

 valuable addition to garden plants made in the 

 last twenty-five years is undoubtedly the Tuber- 

 ous Begonia. It had its origin in three or four 

 species introduced from the Andes of Peru and 

 Bolivia by Messrs. Yeitch & Sons, viz. B. 

 boliviensis (1864), B. Pearcei (1865), B. Veitchii 

 (1867), and B. Davisii (1876). These are all 

 large-flowered, brightly-coloured plants of quite 

 sufficient attractiveness to secure a place among 



favourite garden plants; but their claims have 

 been eclipsed by the splendour of their pro- 

 geny, and they are seldom seen in gardens now. 

 "The series of hybrids distributed by our firm 

 between 1870 and 1880 formed the foundation 

 of the magnificent race we now possess, which, 

 by the energy of the French and other breeders, 

 have reached a development quite unlooked-for 

 at first" (Yeitch). The principal breeders of 

 these plants have been Messrs. Yeitch, Laing, 

 Henderson, Cannell, Ware, and Lemoine. 



The seedlings vary considerably in height, 

 size of leaf, sturdiness of flower-stalk, as well 

 as in the size, form, and colours of the flowers. 

 The largest single flowers are 6 or 8 inches 

 across and almost orbicular in outline, whilst ' 

 among doubles there are flowers which resemble j 

 Camellias, Gardenias, Carnations, and Holly- 

 hocks. They vary in colour from the purest 

 white to pink, scarlet, and crimson, and there 

 are numerous shades of yellow. It is difficult 

 to imagine that much more can be done to 



improve the flowers in size, form, or colour, 

 but there is room for improvement in the 

 length and sturdiness of the flower-stalk. The 

 colours generally come true from seeds, which 

 are readily produced, and as their cross -fer- 

 tilization is simplified by the male and female 

 organs being in different flowers, there is every 

 inducement for the grower to become a breeder. 



Propagation. — The two methods practised for 

 these plants are those of cuttings and seeds. 

 Cuttings are employed only when it is desired 

 to multiply any special variety. They are 

 formed of young shoots taken from near the 

 base of the plant, and they should be planted 

 as early as possible so that they can form good 

 tubers early. If too many shoots start from a 

 tuber when it begins to grow in spring, a portion 

 may be cut off close to the tuber and used as 

 cuttings. They root freely if planted in sandy 

 soil against the side of a thumb-pot and placed 

 in a warm propagating frame. 



Seeds should be sown in boxes or pans of light 

 sandy soil in January or February, if intended 

 to produce nice flowering-plants by the summer. 

 They vegetate freely in a temperature of about 

 70°. As soon as the seedlings can be handled 

 prick them out into boxes or pans half an inch 

 or so apart, to be pricked out again when the 

 plants get crowded; after a time pot them off 

 singly, and shift into larger pots as the plants 

 increase in growth. If intended for the open 

 garden they should be hardened off by about 

 the middle of May to be planted out in the 

 first week of June. One-year-old tubers form 

 splendid plants. The tubers should be allowed 

 to rest from the end of October until the first 

 w r eek in March, when they may be potted up 

 again. They rest best when shaken free of soil 

 and placed in boxes of dry cocoa-nut fibre on a 

 shelf in a dry house or shed, or they may be 

 put under a greenhouse stage if kept dry. 



To obtain a succession of bloom, some of the 

 tubers may be potted up fortnightly from the 

 first of February, and started in heat. The last 

 batch of tubers started in May may be placed 

 at once in a greenhouse, where they often make 

 finer plants than those forced earlier. The 

 young plants must be placed as near the roof- 

 glass as possible. 



A good compost for Begonias is fibrous loam 

 two parts, leaf -mould one part, and a small 

 quantity of decayed, not artificial, manure and 

 sand. The compost should be moist. Do not 

 over-pot to begin with. Small tubers may be 

 planted in 60-sized pots, the larger in small 

 48's, to be repotted again when the pots are 



