TUBEROUS BEGONIAS. 



191 



the culture of this noble race of plants ; they may safely be com- 

 puted by hundreds of thousands, if not millions. About half a 

 million were pricked off into boxes last spring, and two-thirds, 

 consisting of seedlings of single kinds, were planted out in June, 

 besides several houses 100 feet in length filled with pot plants, 

 and several ranges of frames. 



A pleasing feature of the nomenclature of Begonias is the 

 rational method of giving purely garden names, which, although 

 not rigorously adhered to, is very generally adopted. 



Propagation. — There are at least four different methods of 

 propagating tuberous Begonias, namely, by seeds, cuttings, leaf 

 cuttings (as in the case of B. Bex), and division of the tubers. I 

 approve of the first two methods only, for they are certainly the 

 best, most practicable and profitable. Increase by cuttings is 

 only essential in the case of choice standard kinds requiring to 

 be preserved true to name. These are mostly used for pot culture, 

 and are regarded as the most improved or advanced types of the 

 race from whence the finest strain of seed is derived. Young 

 shoots from near the base of the plants make the best cuttings, 

 and may be inserted any time during the growing season, but the 

 earlier they are taken the better will they root and form tubers. 

 A few of the young growths that arise from the tubers in spring 

 may also be taken ; but the fact must not be overlooked that to 

 take the same liberties with them as with Dahlias would be 

 ruinous to a good display of bloom on the old plants for a season. 

 The cuttings should be inserted singly against the side of thumb- 

 pots, in a compost consisting of loam, leaf- soil, and sand, in about 

 equal proportions, and plunged in cocoa-nut fibre in the bed of a 

 propagating pit or frame, and shaded till they have emitted roots, 

 when they may be grown on if required for late blooming ; but 

 the young plants should preferably be kept in the cutting pots 

 until the following spring, and this is the more essential in the case 

 of late-struck cuttings, though, where practicable, these latter 

 should be potted and kept growing. 



Propagation by seed is at once the most legitimate, speedy, 

 profitable, and certain mode of increasing this class of Begonias, 

 either for pot culture or for summer bedding. There will always 

 be a certain amount of speculation with regard to the colour, 

 habit, and character of the seedlings the first year ; but, if derived 

 from a good strain, they seldom fail to give satisfaction, and may 



