322 
THE FLOWER GARDEN. 
effective. Seed of a good strain should be sown in pans, pots 
or boxes filled with a compost of equal parts loam and leaf- 
mould, with a little sand, in January or February, and placed 
in a temperature of 70 to 75 deg. Do not cover the seed with 
soil, but place a pane of glass over the box, and keep shaded 
from sun. Transplant the seedlings in due course into other 
boxes, and at the end of May plant them out in beds which 
have previously been well enriched with decayed manure. Keep 
the bed well watered in dry weather, and when the plants flower 
mark the best flowered ones for lifting and storing in the 
autumn, discarding those of poor quality. In the autumn lift 
the plants and remove them to a greenhouse to ripen. When 
the foliage begins to wither twist off the stems from the tubers, 
and a week or so later store the latter in cocoanut-fibre refuse 
or sand in a cool, dry, frost-proof place till February, when 
start them to grow by partially embedding them in soil in 
boxes placed in a gentle heat. The tubers may be kept in the 
boxes, or transferred to pots when growth has begun. In any 
case keep the plants in heat till May, then place in a cold frame 
to harden, planting out from 6 to 12m. apart, according to size, 
early in June. Seedlings, of course, do not make a good dis- 
play the first season. One, two and more year old tubers give 
the best results. Very pretty effects may be obtained by using 
begonias as a groundwork, and dotting fuchsias, variegated 
maize, and other tall and graceful foliage plants among them. 
Then there are the fibrous-rooted begonias, of which B. 
semperflorens is a good example. These bear smaller flowers, 
are more neat in growth, and, moreover, have bronzy or 
crimson-tinted foliage, which adds greatly to their effect. 
Vernon’s variety, known as Crimson Gem, has bright green 
foliage, deepening as the season advances to a coppery-red 
tint ; flowers crimson. B. semperflorens alba has green foliage 
and white flowers; and B. semperflorens Princess Beatrice, 
green leaves and pink and white blossoms. Other good sorts 
are : Abundance, pink ; Ascotiensis, rosy-red ; and Rosea flori- 
bunda, pink. The varieties of B. semperflorens may be reared 
from seed sown as advised for the Tuberous-rooted kinds, and 
the seedlings planted out in June. The others, including 
Princess Beatrice, requiie to be reared from cuttings in spring. 
At the end of September lift the plants, place them in pots, and 
winter in a temperature of 55 to 65 deg. 
Browa.llia.. — Half-hardy annuals, natives of Peru, be- 
longing to the Nightshade order (Solanaceae). B. demissa 
(Syn. B. elata) deep blue, and its varieties alba, white, and 
grandiflora, pale blue ; also B. Roezli, sky blue, are the only 
kinds adapted for flower garden decoration. Height i8in. to 
2ft. They make very effective plants for growing in masses 
