148 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, 



notes relating to pedigree, &c. This plan greatly facilitates the 

 knowledge gained from the various crossings and the issues there- 

 from. The seed is sown evenly, and covered thinly with fine 

 mould, and the pots, pans, or boxes plunged in gentle warmth, 

 derived either from fermenting material or a hot-water tank. 

 When boxes are used they are, of course, thickly perforated to 

 allow efficient drainage, as the drainage of plants in every stage 

 of growth is an important factor, and of paramount considera- 

 tion in securing healthy development. After the seed is sown 

 the pots, &c, are covered with pieces of glass, and paper on the 

 glass, until the seeds have germinated and made their appear- 

 ance, which will be in about from fourteen to twenty-one days. 

 The glass and shading must then be removed, and air judiciously 

 given, to insure a healthy growth of the seed-leaf. As soon as 

 this has reached its full size, the young plants are very care- 

 fully pricked off, an inch apart, into 5 -inch pots, half filled 

 with potsherds ; or frequently an inverted pot is used for dram- 

 age. The pots containing the seedlings are placed in the same 

 position as before, after having received a watering with tepid 

 water. 



When the young plants have grown about an inch high, 

 they are potted off singly into very small pots and returned to 

 the propagating frame for two or three weeks, taking care to 

 ventilate occasionally so as to dry up superfluous moisture and 

 to prevent them from being drawn up weakly. When the roots 

 begin to reach the sides of the pots the plants are shifted into 

 3-inch pots and arranged on a shelf in some warm position in 

 the greenhouse, the shelf or stage being covered with cocoanut 

 fibre, which is kept moist to prevent excessive evaporation. The 

 young plants having arrived at this stage of growth, their sub- 

 sequent treatment is precisely the same as that of those propa- 

 gated by cuttings, and they will commence blooming in about 

 five months from the time the seed was sown. Having treated 

 the Fuchsia for years thus, it has always afforded me an 

 immense amount of pleasure, some of the plants showing their 

 bloom-buds when only about 6 inches high, and almost all of 

 them making good decorative plants by the end of the season,, 

 and some few, perhaps, being worth keeping for their distinct 

 character. 



In raising seedlings, I had often wished that I could succeed 



