THE J3LG0N1A. 
387 
the plants too must be set where they will 
command the influence of abundance of light — 
every ray that can be afforded them — during 
the earlier stages of their progress ; otherwise, 
the abundance of food taken up by the roots 
will not be properly elaborated, and its pur- 
pose will be defeated. Such potting as this 
must not be done, except in the spring and 
early summer, for the summer - flowering 
species, and early in the autumn for those that 
produce their bloom in winter and spring : it 
is the means to be resorted to, to produce the 
growth that is to afford abundance of flower ; 
and, consequently, as the summer-blooming 
ones will not have commenced growth, and 
the winter-bloomers will be just arriving near 
maturity, neither class will properly require 
sneli potting in the depth of winter. In the 
case of plants that may be duplicates, and 
whose season of growth may have been 
altered for the purpose of securing a succession 
of bloom, repotting must of course be done at 
a period suitable for inducing bloom at the 
time required. If, with this in view, it 
becomes necessary to pot in the winter, of 
course a smaller pot will suffice than might be 
employed at a season more favourable to growth. 
In regard to soil, the Begonias delight in 
that in which vegetable soil abounds, although, 
when vigour and maturity of growth are 
desired, something more substantial must be 
added. Nothing can suit the majority of 
them better than a mixture of the turfy part 
of sandy loam and well-reduced leaf-mould, in 
about equal proportions, or with a slight pre- 
ponderance of loam, sufficient drift, or river- 
sand being added to cause the whole to be 
perfectly permeable to moisture. With a 
mixture such as this, and a good portion of 
drainage, in the shape of broken potsherds, or 
small lumps of charcoal, in the bottom of the 
pots, and some larger pieces used intermixed 
among the soil, all that need be attempted will 
have been done, so far as the soil is concerned. 
The herbaceous species, including also under 
this head those with short stems an inch or 
two long, having leaves at their extremity, 
may be multiplied by division of the plant, 
and by seeds. Sometimes these short branches 
will issue from the lower part of the parent 
plant, and spring up through the soil, and 
become furnished with roots ; in which case, 
the divided portions will be plants at once, 
and in a very little time will have become 
well-established, if ordinary care is afforded 
them after their removal. Sometimes, how- 
ever, such portions maybe detached without 
ha\ ing roots already formed; and in this case 
they must be treated as cuttings. When they 
have a portion of roots when first detached, 
they should be carefully potted in small pots — 
as small as may suit their size, and should 
then be removed to a warm and moderately 
close situation, until they are perceived to 
have commenced growing, when, of course, 
they may be regarded as being established. 
The same remarks, as regards soil and potting, 
apply to them, as to the sub-shrubby ones, 
excepting that, in some cases, the herbaceous 
ones, from the size of their leaves, and the 
general vigour of their growth, will require 
pots a trifle larger than the others. 
• The tuberous rooted species require precisely 
the treatment of tuberous and bulbous-rooted 
plants. Their leaves and stems die away 
in the autumn, after the flowering season is 
past, and the roots go into a state of inac- 
tivity and rest, until the return of the proper 
season when they are again to be brought into 
life and action. After the flowering season 
has passed and the plants have attained their 
full maturity, water must be gradually with- 
held, until the leaves and stems have gradu- 
ally and entirely decayed, and separated from 
the tuberous roots. The roots are then to be 
placed away for the winter, in any dry warm 
place; a convenient way is to turn the pots 
on their sides on some dry shelf in the hot- 
house, or beneath some of the benches wher ■ 
the water does not drain through: it is de- 
sirable that the tubers should be preserved in 
the pots without being at all disturbed. By 
the end of February or the beginning of 
March, they may be taken out, and removed 
from amongst the old soil, and carefully re- 
potted into pots corresponding to their size : 
the soil should be rather dry, and but mode- 
rately watered until they have manifested 
signs of growth. The same kind of soil may 
be used for these as for the others. When 
necessary the plants must be repotted, giving 
them a good shift when they have got into a 
fair growing state. Through the whole of this 
period they are to be placed in any convenient 
part of the stove, where they will be near the 
light, as for instance, on a shelf near the glass, 
or close to the front sashes. In the general 
features of their treatment, the plants will in 
other respects require the tame attention as 
the others. 
They do not require the excessive heat of a 
stove, and therefore, if any portion of the 
house is somewhat cooler than another, the 
cooler part is that which will be most suitable 
for the Begonias. It will be an advantage to 
place them all together in a group, not only for 
the sake of securing the characteristic appear- 
ance which this arrangement favours, but also 
that they may all be alike situated with regard 
to their treatment. They do not well associate 
with a miscellaneous collection of plants in 
their appearance, and the variety of habit, 
foliage, and colour of the flowers among them 
is sufficient to prevent nnything like monotony 
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