10 



THE FLORAL IVORLD 



Tiety with leaves four inches across. 

 Second, Metallica; I have a plant three 

 years old, nearly two feet high, and it 

 fills the upper part of a window. It 

 never gets a ray of sunshine all win- 

 ter. Third, Argentea Guttata, leaves 

 bronze, covered with small white spots, 

 grows very fast in sun or shade, and 

 soon makes a fine plant. Fourth, Ru- 

 bra; this variety needs to be pinched 

 back when small to make it branch, 

 is beautiful when well grown. Begonia 

 Vernon is fine also, and always in 

 bloom, even when greatly neglected. 



Another thing begonias like is mois- 

 ture in the air^ and to secure this I 

 keep a can of water on the coal stove. 

 Admit fresh air to the room daily, if 

 possible. A temperature of 65 or 70 

 degrees through the day suits the be- 

 gonia, and it should not go lower than 

 50 degrees at night. 



New York. Jennie M. Reynolds. 



SOME GOOD VARIETIES OF BEGONIAS. 



I think one of the very best plants 

 for amateurs is the begonia. One 

 could have a window garden of be- 

 gonians and two plants alike. They 

 are so easy to grow. I use very rich 

 soil, light and porous, with little, 

 lumps of charcoal mixed through it, 

 and old bones, for drainage. Some- 

 times I use a little bone-meal in the 

 soil. Pot well and then let them 

 alone. Disturbing the roots by fre- 

 quent repotting is all wrong. They 

 do better let alone. 



Let me give you a list of some that 

 Ihave done remarkably well for me. 

 It is so much more satisfactory to get 

 a plant that has been a success with 

 some one else, for I hold that what 

 one person has done another can do. 



First must come some of Mrs. 

 Shepherd's new begonias from "Ven- 

 tura by the Sea." They are extremely 

 beautiful — enchantress, brilliant, au- 

 tumn leaf, heart's delight, ernani, fair 

 Rosamond, striking beauty. Of the 



older sorts, there is ricini folia dia- 

 dema, rubena, gilsoni, weltoniensis, 

 pink and white varieties, gebrina, 

 odovrata, pink and white varieties. 

 Otto Hacker, rubra and the pink ru- 

 bra, Carolinafolia, Pres. Ganbri, Pres. 

 Carnot, Paul Bruant, Mme. de Les- 

 seps, haageana, duchartreii, compta, 

 robusta, the semper florines class, 

 both single and double, aggrostignia 

 picta, verschofCeltii, olbia, vitida, fe- 

 astii, manica la aurea. With all these 

 I want more. Nothing seems to an- 

 swer every purpose and situation like 

 the different varieties of the begonia. 



For summer we have the tuberous 

 begonias, but we will speak of them 

 near spring. If one can have only one 

 sort of plant, I say invest in the dif- 

 ferent sorts of begonias, and such a 

 pretty window garden you will have. 



Mrs. O. H. Hereford. 



Nebraska. 



THE VERNON BEGONIA. 



The most satisfactory plant for all 

 the year round bloom, that I know of, 

 is the Vernon begonia. I use common 

 garden soil, with one-third rotten sods, 

 and, when in full bloom, give liquid 

 manure once a week. After mine had 

 bloomed in the window all winter, I 

 divided my plant and placed it in a bed 

 in my back yard. I then filled in all 

 around the begonias with sweet alys- 

 sum— "little gem." I just had blooms 

 to give away from that bed all sum- 

 mer. When frost came I carefully 

 lifted my plants, shaded them for a 

 few days and placed them in the south 

 window of the kitchen, where their 

 crimson blooms cheered us all the win- 

 ter. A few plants of curly parsley look 

 fine among the begonias. 



Iowa. Mrs. G. L. Flov^ers. 



BULBS AND CACTI. 



My hobby is bulbs and cacti. I have 

 some fine specimens of grafted cacti. 



