122 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GAEDENING. 



crowd the soil, that the plants show flower-huds, and 

 expand into full symmetrical blossom. But it is 

 of the utmost importance that at this stage the plants 

 be on no account allowed to become dry, nor be over- 

 crowded, and that they have plenty of au-. The more 

 sturdy and vigorous the growth, the more satisfac- 

 tory will be the head of bloom. 



The Balsam makes an excellent out-door plant, 

 if planted in j)roper soil. It must be rich, and if 

 it is intended to make a bed or a plantation of 

 Balsams, the soil should be deeply dug and well 

 manured. An open sunny position is necessary: 

 and if the plants have been grown on in pots, they 

 can be planted out early in June, if the weather is 

 at all favourable. In warm, moist, bright weather. 

 Balsams make a very free growth in the open air ; 

 and if carefully w^atered in dry weather, they grow 

 into plants of large size and fine proportions, and 

 make an excellent retui-n for the labour bestowed 

 upon them. 



And it is suTprising how long a time a Balsam 

 plant will flower in the open air, when it is in 

 good soil and moist at the roots. It throws out a 

 number of lateral or side shoots, and these become 

 filled with flowers, and so the floral succession is 

 carried on. PerhaiDS Balsams are s6en to the best 

 advantage in the open border when they are planted 

 singly among other plants ; but we have seen them 

 very effective in. a large bed by themselves, wdth 

 some plants of the Dwarf or Tom Thumb section 

 planted as an edging. It is a good plan to plant 

 tall Asters and Gladiolus among them, as it tends 

 to relieve the formal character or outline of the 

 Balsams ; and the added plants, being later in flower- 

 ing, furnish blossom when the Balsams are fading. 

 It must not be forgotten that ihe Balsam is a tender 

 annual, and very susceptible of frost, and it should 

 not be planted out in the open ground until the 

 spring frosts have ceased. 



There is one good strain of Balsams, viz., the 

 Double Camellia-flowered, and this comprises several 

 varieties, such as the scarlet, purple, rose, cream, 

 white, &c., as well as pretty flaked and blotched 

 varieties. It is also kno"^Ti as the Eose-flowered. 

 The self-colours are generally the most double, and 

 a few of these are somewhat extensively grown for 

 Co vent Garden Market. 



It is surprising what large and finely-flowered 

 specimens of Balsam one sees in the London plant 

 markets growing in quite small -pots. They are 

 grown on rapidly in a strong heat, w^ell cared for, 

 and abundantly watered with weak liquid manure. 

 But it is only market growers that can produce 

 such specimens in such small pots, and in such an 

 incredibly short space of time. As to the course of 

 treatment pursued to obtain such results, the market 



grower selects a few varieties remarkable for fine 

 double flowers. The seeds are then sown in a strong 

 bottom heat, in spring ; and as soon as they are 

 large enough to be handled, they are placed, singly, 

 in small ^Dots, grown on vigorously, and shifted into 

 pots of a larger size, imtil they occupy 48-size, or 

 pots four and a half inches in diameter. The plants 

 are grown in low span-roofed houses, and kept near 

 the glass, where they have plenty of light ; and 

 when the pots are filled with roots, and they arc 

 showing for bloom, they are watered two or three 

 times a day, according to the weather ; and at least 

 once a day with weak liquid manm-e. Let any one 

 purchase a market Balsam, and turn it out of the 

 pot, and he will find a perfect hai-d ball of roots. 

 But it is the constant watering, and the warm, moist 

 heat in v/hich the plants are grown, that keep thcni 

 such perfect specimens, and make them the wonder 

 and admiration of all who see the plants in the 

 London markets. 



Begonias (Tui^erous - rooted). — Probably no 

 groujD of plants is so poj)ular in the present day as 

 the tuberous-rooted Begonias, and they may be said 

 to have taken the place of the Zonal Pelargonium in. 

 public estimation. And it is not to be wondered at, 

 for they are perennial in character, easily grown,, 

 very fi'ee and continuous in bloom. Seeing that 

 new varieties can be raised from seed with compara- 

 tive ease, thousands of seedlings are annually pro- 

 duced ; and so generally fine axe they that in a short 

 time the naming of particular varieties will cease, 

 except in the cases of those of exceptional and strik- 

 ing character. 



lict us shortly trace as accurately as possible the 

 introduction and development of the tuberous-rooted 

 Begonia. It is nearly twenty years ago since 

 Messrs. Yeitch and Sons' collectors sent home to 

 them Begonia BoHviei^sis, JR. species, and B. Veitchiiy 

 all flowering tuberous-rooted varieties, which created 

 quite a furore when they were first exhibited. 

 Shortly afterwards, B. Fearcei, a very distinct yellow- 

 flowered t}"pe, was also sent home to Chelsea. These 

 proved of the greatest value for hybridising pur- 

 poses, and in the hands of a clever manipulator at 

 the Chelsea nurseries, there was produced in. 1868, 

 B. Sedeni ; in 1870, B. intcrmeaia ; and several others 

 followed in rapid succession. The first English 

 hybrid was B. Sedeni, with pale scarlet flowers, sold 

 first in 1870 ; then followed B. intermedia, in 1871 ; 

 B. Chelsoni, in 1872 ; B. steUa, and B. Vesuvius, in 

 1874, (Src, all produced by Messrs. Veitch and Sons; 

 and it is to this enterprising finn that we owe the 

 commencement of the work which resulted in the 

 splendid development seen in the present day. Sub- 

 sequently other persons interested in the Begonia 



