TUBEROUS BEGONIAS. 



189 



than single ones, on account of the difficulty of getting pollen. 

 The continental growers were the most successful with this 

 section in the earliest stages of its development, but home-raised 

 varieties are now far superior to the earlier types. My varieties 

 of to-day show a marked improvement upon those of as recent a 

 date as 1887. They were then globular, densely crowded with 

 petals, lumpy and heavy, although better than the ragged and 

 unshapely flowers of previous years. Those that obtained First- 

 class Certificates five years ago would not now attract attention, 

 far less merit approval. During the early days of the develop- 

 ment of the flower we had to be content with size and colour, 

 with little regard to either shape or refinement. One named 

 Glow was a great acquisition in its day, being large, globular, 

 and bright scarlet, but it consisted of numerous centres or 

 secondary flowers resembling a truss of a double Pelargonium. 

 Many of the largest-flowered varieties I have recently obtained 

 have short, stout stalks, and are self-supporting, bearing their 

 huge blooms erect without staking. My aim is now to select 

 and perpetuate only varieties with broad, even petals, arranged 

 round a common centre, and having the refinement of either the 

 Eose, Camellia, or Picotee, or displaying the crimped petals of 

 the double Hollyhock. The first is represented by Princess 

 May, white ; Lady Wantage, rosy-pink ; Laing's Kosebud, blush- 

 pink ; W. Clifford, rose ; Laing's Triumph, rosy-carmine ; and 

 Sir Trevor Lawrence, like a bunch of crimson Tea Eoses when 

 half expanded. The Camellia and Picotee types are represented 

 by varieties bearing those names. A great many of the single- 

 centred flowers may be compared to double Hollyhocks or Petu- 

 nias, on account of their wavy, undulated, or crisped petals, and 

 people appreciate these forms. They are well exemplified by 

 Glory of Stanstead, white flushed pink ; Lady Brooke, salmon- 

 red ; Duke of Fife, salmon ; Lady Dorrington, blush-pink ; and 

 Baroness Burdett-Coutts, salmon-rose. The Duchess of Teck is 

 like a bunch of Primroses. Various other comparisons might be 

 made, but enough has been said to indicate the present lines on 

 which double Begonias are being refined and improved, for the 

 variation of colour seems endless. 



Uses. — One of the most important uses to which Begonias 

 can be put is for indoor decoration in pots, and to a smaller 

 extent in baskets. A fine display may be kept up from April to 



