THE FUCHSIA. 
317 
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GLENNY ON THE FUCHSIA, 
ITS CULTURE AND PROPERTIES. 
The Fuchsia has become one of the most 
popular of the florists' plants. The publication 
of the properties which constitute perfection 
was the signal for a general improvement ; 
and notwithstanding the thousands of weedy 
worthless things that have been turned out 
without merit to sustain them a season, there 
has been a general appreciation of the better 
subjects, so that it is now possible to obtain 
a dozen or more varieties which are manifest 
approaches to the desirable standard. The 
Fuchsia, more than any other subject, derives 
much of its value from the habit of the plant. 
Many of the varieties have flowers worthy of 
notice, but the uncouth growth of the shrub 
itself destroys its beauty; while some of the 
most handsome of the plants have ugly flowers. 
There is much to be done in cultivation to 
aid their appearance, and care should always 
be taken to shape the specimen under culture 
in such a way as to show off the habit to ad- 
vantage: for instance, if the flowers or the 
footstalks of the flowers be very long, the 
plant must be grown sufficiently open to allow 
the bloom to hang free of the branches, and 
in some instances they would be better as 
standards. In the cultivation, therefore, of 
the plant this must be well studied. The 
various modes of growing the Fuchsia consist 
of retarding the open lanky varieties, exciting 
the short-jointed bushy kinds, thinning out 
those which have the branches confused, and 
shortening the branches of all inclined to grow 
too long ; and these operations are simple 
enough when once it is understood what the 
plant requires. 
