wixn o w a A rdening. 
199 
IS now rarely seen; its flowers are small and its foliage very different from those 
we now cultivate. Although so iiisigniHcant, when compared to its gorgeous 
listers, yet its fragile flowers press beautifully, and they are great acquisitions 
in a bouquet or wreath of pressed flowers. 
Culture. 
Fuchsias do not require a high temperature ; a very warm, dry atmosphere ia 
not Hivorable to their growth, but they need light and air — not so much the direct 
rays of the sun as roses and geraniums — but if kept in too dark a situation they 
will loose their leaves and drop their buds. 
Good rich soil is needed for luxuriant growth, and well rotted turf mixed with 
peat, is quite to their taste ; the dark soil from the forests, composed in a great 
degree of leaf mould, with a little sand added to it, will make them grow luxu 
riously. A Serratifolia and a Speciosa\\^Y& grown three feet high in one winter 
in such a soil, and they were covered with a wealth of buds and flowers. Their 
growth was magnificent ! The above named are winter flowering varieties, and 
will bloom in window gardens from nine to ten months in the year. 
Tlie Fuchsia is a gross feeder, and requires a good deal of room for its roots 
when it is growing rapidly. It can be planted in small pots, and as the branches 
increase, watch the roots and do not let the plants become root bound. 
Two years old plants will bloom profusely — often having hundreds of flowers 
upon them — but they must have liquid manure once a week to be grown in per- 
fection. 
"When raised from cuttings, they strike quickly in damp sand, and should be 
transplanted into rich soil, in three inch pots. In two weeks tie the main branch 
to a small stick and train the plant into asymmetrical shape. When thebranchea 
are two or three inches long pinch out iheir tips, and two or three branches will 
start from each one. 
A really beautiful plant of handsome shape is obtained only by care. The 
accompanying illustration. Fig. 72, is a specisien out of thirty others grown from 
a small cutting in twelve months. The cutting selected should be strong, healthy 
and woody, with no less than three or four joints; each leaf should be pulled off, 
and then set the cutting two or tliree inches in the soil, and about one inch out. 
The proper temperature is 55° to 05°; atmosphere moderately moist; use rain- 
water of same temperature as the atmosphere. 
Many persons prefer to have young plants every year or two, and let the old 
ones die away. But the old plants can be judiciously managed, and make very 
pretty plants for years to come. Set them in the cellar until late in January; 
let them lose every leaf; then take up, and cut back severely. If you want a 
pyramidal shape cut back all the branches, and some of the top also. 
If you like an umbrella shaped plant, choose the drooping kinds, and cut off 
the lower branches close to the main stem, within two or three feet of the pot ; 
then cut the branches next higher up, to within a few inches of the stem, and 
