26 



TUBEROUS BEGONIAS AGAIN. 



and more rapidly increased by seed, if the conditions of 

 heat, moisture and shade are just right. I have found 

 the greatest difficulty in maintaining the proper degree 

 of moisture for the seed-pans until the plants are large 

 enough to be pricked out. 



I believe that an expert who can handle the seedlings 

 in the first stage can grow the finest plants as cheaply 

 as geraniums, and, without doubt, the day is not far dis- 

 tant when the wholesale prices will be as low. Then 

 they will become the flower for the million, both for 

 summer pot-culture and for bedding. — John F. Rupp, 

 CiDiiberland Co., Pa. 



THEY BEAR EXPOSURE WELL. 



Last spring I planted out several dozen choice tuber- 

 ous begonias, and they did well in a perfectly open ex- 



Type of the New Seedling Dou 



posure, and greatly pleased all who saw them. I think 

 our ordinary summer weather suits them well. They 

 are not particular about soil, but the best for them is a 

 light loam with a good addition, say one-fourth, of rotten 

 cow manure, and the bed should be well drained. I 

 have not grown any named varieties yet, but my experi- 

 ence is, that the single sorts are the most showy and 

 effective. Begonias are so easily raised, and occupy the 

 greenhouse but so few months in the spring, that I 

 think they will soon be sold at the same price as good 

 geraniums. I can think of only one plant that is a rival 



of the begonia as a summer-flowering plant for dwelling- 

 house and conservatory, viz., the gloxinia. I have seen 

 plants that bloomed continuously this summer, from 

 May to October, in an amateur's greenhouse. While 

 possibly they never can supplant such showy flowers as 

 the different varieties of geraniums, when better known 

 they will, I think, be planted largely by all classes of 

 people, and the prices will soon be within the reach of 

 all. I filled two iron vases with tuberous begonias this 

 summer, and they have been entirely satisfactory. — 

 WiLLi.AM Scott, E?-ie Co., N. Y. 



TWO SIDES TO the QUESTION. 



I have grown from 50 to 200 tuberous begonias for 

 five years, and while I have had some good plants I have 

 had more poor ones, that would not grow indoors or out. 



Last season I tired of 

 them and disposed of 

 my bulbs. I never 

 tried growing from 

 seed, but grew many 

 from cuttings, by re- 

 moving the surplus 

 shoots, and, potted 

 independently, these 

 grew right along. 



In .my observations 

 in the parks and 

 among florists, I have 

 noticed more failures 

 than successes. I n 

 July and August the 

 sun is too hot for 

 them, andwind-storms 

 soon destroy them 

 when exposed. 



A lady friend near 

 Lockport, III., sue" 

 ceeds better than any 

 one else I have seen in 

 growing large plants 

 full of fine flowers. I 

 saw them September 

 20 in full glory, and, 

 in answer to my ques- 

 tion, she said : "I 

 gathered the soil for 

 them in the woods_ 

 under the north side 

 of a fallen tree which was rotting down — a mixture of 

 leaf-mold and rotten wood, with light and heavy soil. 

 With it I mixed some sand from the river and some old 

 manure from the hen-roost. Three years ago last spring 

 I potted them into the pots in which you now see them 

 (eight-inch). They were more than half full of drainage 

 material, and then filled to overflowing with soil. The 

 bulbs were barely covered on top of the center. I do 

 not repot each year, but top-dress with the same soil 

 and keep the pots full. They are plunged out during 

 the summer, and kept in the cellar in the winter. No, I 



