The Greenhouse and Frame 
2 35 
may be planted out in a sheltered bed of good soil, and 
the best varieties marked, or lifted and potted for green- 
house culture. 
For the best varieties the strain (or characteristics) 
must be fixed, that is, the plants must be isolated and 
the flowers carefully pollinated with pollen on a small 
brush and the seed sown for several years from young 
plants each year until the seedlings come true to the 
parents. The flowers must then be carefully watched 
to prevent them from getting contaminated with a useless 
sort. Cuttings may be taken of others by breaking some 
of the young shoots off the old tubers when they start 
in spring and potting them in the ordinary way as advised 
for fibrous-rooted kinds. For very rare varieties the tips 
of the shoots may be struck as cuttings, when with careful 
treatment in the second year they will make fair plants. 
The latter methods are not advised unless for very rare 
varieties, as they never make very fine plants. 
Fuchsias. — These are some of the most popular of 
our greenhouse plants. They are easily propagated and 
very readily grown. Though lovely specimens from 6 
to 9 ft. high, with perfect pyramids of lovely drooping 
blossoms, are seldom met with, yet we see very fine plants, 
especially at our village flower shows. In the larger 
establishments many new plants have been introduced 
which have encroached upon the space necessary to grow 
large specimens, but it will be a long time before they 
are superseded in the cottager’s greenhouse or window. 
Fuchsias are generally raised from cuttings taken in 
early spring. These should consist of the young shoots 
which have grown out after the resting period. Short 
