TLOEISTS' PLOWEES : FUCHSIAS. 



77 



give air daily, and keep them well watered. The cut- 

 tings will make nice little tubers by the end of the year. 



isew dahlias may be got from seed. Gather seed, as 

 soon as it is ripe, from flowers of distinct colour and 

 good form ; hang the pods up in a dry place, and when the 

 scales of the pods turn brown, separate the seed, dry it 

 (in the morning sun only), and pnt it by in a dry place. 

 Sow the seed in March, and as soon as the seedlings are 

 large enough, plant them ofl* singly in small pots, and as 

 soon as there is no longer chance of frost, plant them out 

 a foot apart and allow them to flower. All which pro- 

 duce bad-shaped or dull-coloured flowers, may be thrown 

 away at once ; but such as have flowers of good colour 

 and shape, with petals of good form, should be kept 

 another year for trial. Any that turn out very good 

 had better be propagated by cuttings from the young 

 tops to save the kind in case the root should die. 



Fuchsias are no less popular than dahlias, and are even 

 more beautiful than they. They grow quite freely in 

 the open air, but unless in warm sheltered positions, 

 they must be protected for the winter, or taken up. As 

 they produce new sorts readily from seed, the varieties 

 are almost innumerable. They are greedy of manure, 

 and will do well in a mixture of one-half mellow strong 

 yellow loam, one quarter thoroughly decayed leaf-mould, 

 and one quarter old hot-bed manure, all well mixed. 

 Coccinea, virgata, conica, gracilis, and glolosa, do well 

 out of doors, and all the attention they need is to cut 

 them down after the first frost, and cover the roots with 

 moss, coal ashes, or other litter, to keep out the frost ; 

 to remove this in April, and thin out the shoots in May. 



Fuchsias grow well from cuttings taken in February 

 and March, needing thus early a little heat to stimulate 

 them into growth. The best bits for cuttings are said 

 I to be young shoots taken off close to the old wood as 

 I soon as they are an inch long. Plant them in pots of 

 I loam and leaf-mould, equal parts, and a layer of silver 

 sand on the surface. Water the earth to make it firm, 

 trim the lower leaves from the cuttings, plant them, 

 give another gentle watering, and place them on a mild 



