72 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENING. 



see somewliat small and ragged specimens at flower 

 shows, they come as an unusual revelation of the 

 cultivator's skill. Some 

 of the plants are four 

 and five years old, and 

 some as many as eight 

 or nine. One of the 

 most successful of 

 these West of Eng- 

 land exhibitors has 

 furnished us with an 

 outline of his culture, 

 as follows: — "I con- 

 sider the end of March 

 or the beginning of 

 April the best time to 

 propagate the Fuchsia. 

 I select some of the 

 most vigorous cuttings 

 I can and place them 

 singly in thumb-pots, 

 putting them in a 

 cucumber-frame, where 

 there is a brisk bot- 

 tom heat ; when the 

 roots reach the sides 

 of the pots I re -pot, 

 and continue to do so 

 until the first or second 

 week in July, pinch- 

 ing out the leading 

 and side shoots, in 

 order to get the plants 

 into the shape I want. 

 Then I allow them 

 to flower in the 

 autumn. These plants 

 I can exhibit the fol- 

 lowing summer. I 

 have shown specimens 

 at eighteen months' 

 of age that were four 

 feet through and eight 

 feet high, well grown 

 and freely flowered. 

 As a rule the plants 

 I exhibit are from 

 one and a half to 

 five years old, accord- 

 ing to the variety ; 

 after that age I 

 throw them away 

 and replace them by 



young plants. About the end of October, when the 

 plants go out of flow-er, I prune them all back to 

 two or three joints beyond where they were pruned 



the previous year. They are then placed in a house 

 to winter and kept moderately dry. In January, 

 or the first week in 

 February, the plants 

 are turned out of 

 their pots, the soil 

 shaken from their roots 

 and re-potted — the 

 young specimens into 

 pots known as 'foui'- 

 teens,' and the larger 

 specimens into ' six- 

 teens,' which are 

 somewhat larger. The 

 compost I use is made 

 up of two parts good 

 fibrous loam, and the 

 third part composed 

 of leaf-mould, a little 

 peat, some rough silver 

 sand, and a fair 

 amount of well-decom- 

 posed cow - manure. 

 This is well mixed 

 together before using, 

 and when potted the 

 plants are placed in 

 a cold house, but 

 from which frost is 

 excluded, where they 

 remain until the first 

 week in June. Then 

 they are placed out 

 of doors on a surface 

 of ashes, standing each 

 pot on a piece of 

 slate, and syringing 

 the plants every day 

 in hot weather to 

 keep the foliage clean 

 and fresh ; and at 

 this time I give the 

 manm-e- water once a 

 week. I make my 

 manure-water by plac- 

 ing fresh cow - dung 

 or horse-droppings, or 

 soot, in a tub of 

 water, and allow it 

 to stand ten days 



Fuchsia vexusta, 



I give the plants a 

 thorough good soaking 

 when it is applied. In tliis way I grow very fine 

 plants for exhibition, which are the admiration of all 

 who see them." 



