GENERAL TREATMENT OF FUCHSIAS. 
207 
condition will entail opposite and proportionately successful results, is afforded by 
the many plants that meet the eye in open gardens, where nothing obstructs the 
extension of the roots. If a Fuchsia^ therefore, is to be grown in a pot, it must 
have plenty of room therein to spread out its roots, or it will never flourish ; and 
as the size of the plant increases, the pot in which it is put must be concurrently 
enlarged ; or rather, a larger pot should be supplied in time to prevent the roots 
from growing too near the edge, and thus getting stinted for food. 
But as it is impossible, in a pot, to give a plant the same liberty for its roots 
which it would have in the free soil, this deficiency can be partly atoned for by 
supplying it with a somewhat richer soil. Consequently, for potted Fuchsias, we 
would mix a small proportion of well-decayed and pulverized manure with the 
loam which should be the staple ingredient in their compost, and a trifling quantity 
of leaf-mould might advantageously be added, as well for accomplishing the like 
purpose as for aiding the drainage. The kind of loam that should be chosen is 
that fresh fibrous soil from beneath the turf of a pasture, which crumbles readily 
between the fingers, and is neither clayey nor peculiarly sandy. This should 
constitute nearly two-thirds of the compost ; the remaining parts being one-sixth 
of leaf-mould, and one-sixth of rotten manure. Heath-mould may be altogether 
dispensed with, unless it be very fibrous, when it may displace one-sixth of the 
loam. Where, from any cause, there is danger that the drainage will be inter- 
rupted, some broken sand-stone, in pieces of about a quarter of an inch diameter, 
can be mingled sparingly with the soil. 
Next to the provision for the due accommodation of the roots with suitable 
soil and an adequate quantity of it, there must be secured to the plant, during the 
whole time of its growing stage, a full and uninterrupted exposure to the rays of 
the sun ; so far, at least, as this can be done in any glazed structure. Nothing 
tends more to diminish the healthiness and productiveness of Fuchsias than that 
partial and imperfect light which they get from a western or eastern window, or 
through any window which is much covered by blinds, or in a greenhouse where 
they are surrounded by larger or more leafy plants, or where, from the construction 
of the building, or from any other circumstance, they are at all shaded. This 
rule likewise holds good in regard to such specimens as are planted out, either in 
conservatories or the flower-borders. They will not bear shade without detriment 
to the leaves and general appearance, and a reduction of the number of flowers. 
It is on this account that plants of Fuchsia^ which are grown in pots by cottagers, 
assume such a healthy hue and bloom so well when they are placed out in the open 
air during summer; and, no doubt, if the transition from the greenhouse to complete 
exposure were effected gradually, it would be beneficial to all potted Fuchsias to 
have them in frames or houses, from which the lights could be quite removed in 
the summer season. 
The most peculiar feature which we have to notice in the management of 
Fuchsias, however, and one which is very rarely adopted, otherwise than accidentally. 
