18T 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[Mat, 
Tuberous-Rooted Begonias. 
It is not our custom to highly commend a plant 
unless we have had some personal experience with 
TUBEROUS-ROOTED BEGONIA.. 
ft, but sometimes, In regard to recently introduced 
novelties, we are obliged to rely upon the represen¬ 
tations of others ; in such case6 we distinctly give 
the sources of our information, which are usually 
European, and the reader can decide whether the 
plants appear to be worthy of trial. Not long ago 
Messrs. B. K. Bliss & Sons handed us some tubers, 
which we could not recognize as any that we had 
ever seen before, and we were quite delighted to 
learn that they were the tubers of some of the new 
Hybrid Begonias, about which so much has been 
6aid in the European journals. Several years ago 
there were introduced from South America a num¬ 
ber of species of Begonia, quite different from those 
heretofore cultivated in greenhouses ; they have 
tuberous roots, and annual stems which die down 
after the flowering season is over, and the tubers 
have a season of rest. The foliage presents a va¬ 
riety of form and color, and the flowers, which are 
produced in great profusion, are distinguished by 
their great size, and often elongated bell-shape, 
often with a marked difference between the male 
and female flowers in size, shape, and duration. 
The most conspicuous of these species are Begonia 
Boliviensis, with bright red flowers, B. Victchii, vivid 
Vermillion color, B. Pearcci, bright yellow, and B, 
octopetala, with large white flowers. Begonia Vietchii 
was found on the Andes, at an elevation of over 
12,000 feet above the sea, and with some others has 
proved entirely hardy in Europe. Several florists 
in England and upon the Continent have hybridized 
these species, and again 
crossed the hybrids, and 
have thus produced a 
great number of forms, 
of which the European 
catalogues offer some 
fifty named hybrids, 
presenting a great va¬ 
riety of colors, such as 
orange, salmon, scarlet, 
brush, rose, pink, and 
crimson, with numerous 
intermediate shades, 
ancf they promise to be¬ 
come exceedingly pop¬ 
ular plants, both for 
the summer decoration 
of greenhouses, and for 
the open border. The 
ordinary 1 greenhouse Be¬ 
gonias are divided into 
those grown for the 
great beauty of their 
leaves, such as B. Bex, 
and its allies, and those 
cultivated for their 
flowers, of which B. 
fuclmoidcs is an exam¬ 
ple. These newer kinds 
have been variously called Flowering Begonias, 
Handsome-flowered Begonias, and New Hybrid 
Begonias ; Tuberous-rooted seems to be the most 
descriptive name, as it includes the original spe¬ 
cies, and the hybrids which have been derived 
from them. Besides the bulbs, which are as yet 
quite scarce, seeds are offered for sale, from which 
it is likely that entirely new forms will be produced. 
Not having raised these from seeds, we can only 
repeat the directions given in the European jour¬ 
nals, to sow very thinly in a pot of rather sandy 
soil, and cover very lightly ; when the plants are 
large enough to handle, they are potted off singly 
into pots of light, rich soil. Those which flower 
in pots have the stems cut away when the foliage 
begins to fail, and the pots turned on their sides to 
keep the tubers dry until spring. The tubers of 
those flowering in the open ground, should be lift¬ 
ed at the end of the season, and preserved in dry 
sand or dry moss. Having seen some of the species 
from which these varieties are derived, we are pre¬ 
pared to see some of the hybrids sustain the claims 
made for them abroad. Mr. Bliss, who saw them 
in Europe, thinks they are destined to make a sen¬ 
sation among the lovers of flowers in this country, 
as we may hope they will be more brilliant in our 
climate than in that of Europe. It will be neces¬ 
sary for the bulbs to be more abundant than they 
are at present, before we can venture to test their 
hardiness, which in the northern states, at least, 
can hardly be hoped for. In August last one of 
these hybrids in the grounds of Messrs. Veitch <fe 
Son, (Eng.), which had been out for the three pre¬ 
vious winters, formed a dense mass two feet high 
and three feet across. The engraving gives an idea 
of the habit of these Begonias ; this one has bell¬ 
shaped flowers; in others the flowers are cup¬ 
shaped and larger in proportion than these. 
The “California NutmegTorreya. 
After the wonderful discoveries of gold in 
California, people were ready to believe any¬ 
thing that might he told of that country, and 
a charleston soup-bunch.— {See page 186.) 
stories of mines of soap, cinnamon trees, and 
trees loaded with nutmegs, found ready cred¬ 
ence. Indeed it was insisted that the genuine 
East India nutmeg grew there, and the produc¬ 
tion of this spice was looked upon as one of 
the future resources of the country. Happen¬ 
ing to be in California at the time the nutmeg 
was much talked of, and but little known, we 
came in contact with the indefatigable collec¬ 
tor, Mr. Lobb, who had just succeeded in find¬ 
ing the trees, and in gathering some of the 
fruit, the knowledge of which had heretofore 
been derived entirely from the wild stories of 
prospectors and miners. The fun had by Mr. 
Lobb, the lamented Dr. Randall, and the writer, 
in testing this wonderful nutmeg, will long be 
remembered as among the pleasant incidents of 
botanical exploration. We tried very hard, in 
various ways, to make it taste or smell like nut¬ 
meg, but there was an uncompromising flavor 
of turpentine, that the most prejudiced could 
not ignore ; we never tried the nutmegs said to 
have been made in Connecticut, but if, as 
alleged, the best makers used sassafras wood, 
we have no doubt as a spice they would be far 
preferable to the California product. The 
“nutmegs” collected by Mr. Lobb, went to 
England, and the tree was described by Sir 
Wm. Hooker as Torreya Myristica, but before- 
that publication appeared, a Mr. Shelton had 
taken specimens to Doct. Torrey, who recog¬ 
nized them as belonging to a genus named 
after him many years before, and he described 
A sulky for colts, showing anti-kicking arrangement. —(Seepreceding page.) 
