266 
THE GENUS BEGONIA. 
summer, and should be taken off when from three to five joints 
long, according to their respective habits and strength ; the strong 
growing kinds will be more convenient with the smaller number, 
while the naturally dwarf species will require to be left till they 
have attained a sufficient length to handle; after trimming a few 
of the lower leaves away, the cuttings are to be set in pots filled 
with very sandy peat, having a layer of half an inch of sand on 
the surface, and after a gentle watering they should be covered 
with a bell-glass, and plunged into a mild bottom heat, keeping 
them moderately damp, where they will protrude roots in a week 
or ten days, and after one or two days’ exposure, by removing the 
glass, may be potted singly into small pots. Through the ensuing 
three months they should be kept in a temperature of about 65°, 
where there is abundance of moisture and some shade from the 
intense influence of the mid-day sun ; while they are small there 
can be no better place for their culture than the ordinary cucumber 
frame or pit, which in the beginning of the season usually sup¬ 
plies the exact atmosphere required; here they grow rapidly, 
and in the course of a month will require to be stopped and 
repotted. The soil used at this and all subsequent shifting 
should be chiefly fibrous peat, broken rather roughly, and mixed 
with a small quantity of leaf-mould and silver sand; into this the 
roots run freely, and the foliage receives a brilliant deep green. 
By the middle of August, the plants will have grown sufficiently 
to be placed in the blooming pots : these may be proportionate to 
the size of the plants ; they will grow on fast for another month, 
and in the course of that time require stopping once more, after 
which the branches should be tied out, and preparation made for 
the expected blooming season. The flowers of most of the species 
are produced near to the points of the new shoots, and hence the 
benefit of the repeated stopping recommended, as by it the 
number of shoots is increased, and consequently the display of 
flowers. After getting the plants established in the last-mentioned 
pots, and the last growths formed, moisture must be withheld 
from the atmosphere in which they are growing, and rather less 
given them at the roots ; a light shelf in the stove or greenhouse 
should receive them, and, according to the habit of the several 
species, the blossoms will begin to expand and continue onwards 
till April. 
