818 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
June 22. 
treatment, they will not for long periods present a dense 
blaze of bloom. Were that blaze wanted in September, 
I would adopt the advice of Mr. B.,—I would instantly 
cut away every bloom. I would train the main shoot 
upright, so as to give the plants the appearance of a 
cone. I would shorten and arrange the side-shoots, 
so that the longest should he next the pot, expecting 
two or three or more shoots from each of these so 
shortened. Some of these kiuds mentioned are apt to 
run up without throwing out side-shoots in plenty; 
and in such a case, the leader must be shortened, 
to force it to send these side - shoots out, adopting 
one of the new shoots from it as leader; and even 
shortening that again if necessary. A position in a 
hothouse, slightly shaded, would now he the place for 
them ; and a closish, moist atmosphere their delight. 
The close, warm end of a greenhouse would he a good 
substitute. Plunging the pots in a mild, sweet bottom- 
heat, iu a plant stove, or pit, would be the best of all. 
If the plants are in small pots, shifting into larger will 
be requsite; and whenever extra heat and a closish 
atmosphere can be thus given, only one shift should 
i be resolved on ; say, from a five-inch pot to a nine or a 
twelve-inch one, using rough loam and old cow-dung 
as a staple, with a sufficiency of charcoal and sand to 
keep the whole loose and open, and keeping in mind, 
particularly, in watering never to saturate the soil 
farther than you have reason to believe that the roots 
have penetrated. Here growth will proceed rapidly; 
strongish shoots will probably want first or second stop¬ 
ping to obtain more of them; and this is particularly 
necessary in all kinds that make strong wood, such as 
Dinclem of Flora, Don Oiovani, and bloom chiefly on the 
points of shoots; and is less imperatively required in 
such kinds as Banks's Glory, and especially in Voltigeur, 
which break up into masses of twiggy branches almost 
naturally. No stopping should take place after the 
first of August. In the beginning of that month, more 
air should be given ; by the middle, the plants should be 
turned out of their plunging material; and in the third 
and fourth week be set in the greenhouse; and by 
the middle of September they may be expected to be in 
full bloom. By adopting such a mode, I have had 
cuttings in March, fine, large, symmetrical, flowering 
plants in September; but then, let it be remarked, that 
the plants were allowed to present little to admire but 
their foliage before that time. Of course, when a fair 
sized skeleton is secured, such as these plants will 
present next season, this extra stimulus to growth, so 
as to gain size, will not be required; nay, would be more 
likely to be hurtful. In the case before us, it will help 
to produce a definite result, size and bloom, at a desired 
period. As previously remarked, though without this 
care and depriving the plants of bloom, the plants, 
assisted by shifting and top dressing, and moderate 
stopping of strong shoots, may look passably interesting 
all the summer; a blaze in September could not so 
well be calculated on. 
Having, at one time, paid considerable attention to 
securing good masses of bloom on Fuchsias, from the 
j middle of May to the end of October, by three succes¬ 
sions of plants, instead of taking up any other subject, 
it may interest some beginners to know what course I 
i found the best, and the least troublesome. Premising, 
then, that the plants were pretty well ripened in autumn 
from standing in an open, sunny place, until the most 
of the leaves were shed, the largest and oldest plants 
received a rough pruning, say at the end of October, by 
whipping off the points on the least ripened part of the 
young shoots; the younger plants were pruned less 
freely, the chief object being the ability to cram the 
whole into as little room as possible—into a shed where 
frost could be excluded. One of these places contained 
a furnace, always used in severe weather; so that by 
merely shutting the shed door little frost could penetrate. 
In another place, where no fire was present, hay was 
thrown over the plants in severe weather. In this latter 
place, the plants were strangers to water during the 
winter, the moisture of the air, and from the dampish 
floor, being quite sufficient. In the stock-hole shed, the 
plants required watering several times, and syringing i 
over head in frosty weather, when the use of the furnace 
tended to dry the air in the shed. By the end of 
February and the first weeks in March, some of the 
oldest and best-formed plants began to bud. These 
were turned out, and pruned a little more, but not 
much, as the object with these plants was not to grow 
them, but to bloom them, and, therefore, a mass of 
shoots, a few inches in length, was nearly all the growth 
required. The soil, being rather dry, was easily shaken 
from the roots; these roots were then, after a slight 
pruning, dipped, and allowed to remain a few minutes in 
a tub of water, at a temperature of from 70° to 80°. 
When the water had drained from them, they were trails 
ferred to similar sized pots as those from whence they 
came; the roots packed in nice, turfy, fibrv compost 
with a fair proportion of sand, and the whole in that 
condition neither wet nor dry. The plants were then 
moved to the warm end of a greenhouse ; but if come- 
at-able, a peach-house, or a vinery at work, would be 
preferable, where a slight shading could be given, and 
an average temperature of from 50° to 00° with a rise 
from sunshine. In either case, the advantage of dipping 
the roots would soon be seen, as there would be no 
necessity for saturating the fresh soil until roots were 
working freely into it; a slight syringing over head to 
lessen evaporation being all that was requisite until 
both head and roots were progressing freely. Such 
plants coming at once into bloom, and receiving no 
stoppiug-of-shoots to speak of, would be in full bloom by 
the middle of May and onwards. 
A second lot, shifted a month later and more pruned- 
in, with a little stopping, and less care as to extra heat, 
would furnish good specimens in July and August. 
A third lot, cut back even more closely, their strongest 
shoots stopped again, set out-of-doors in a sheltered 
place in April, stopped and trained during summer, 
would make fine plants iu autumn. 
A fourth lot of these old plants would come into com¬ 
petition with these, and, likewise, involve less trouble 
than the next to be named; namely, old plants that did 
not break regularly. These were cut down close to 
the surface of the soil, or rather below it, moisture given, 
one shoot selected out of several that appeared, that 
encouraged, stopped, and trained out as if it were a 
young plant, the potting taking place after the shoot 
was from five to six inches in length. With common I 
greenhouse treatment, such plants will make a fiue 
show in autumn. A fifth lot may consist of late 
autumn, or early spring, cuttings, treated in hotbed i 
fashion, as previously described, which will require j 
more care and labour, but which will so far repay it by 
their general symmetry and healthy aspect. As has 
been seen, such plants will bloom in summer if re¬ 
quired; in fact, one great pleasure in Fuchsia culture 
is, that a small plant in a four-inch pot may be as 
beautiful, for its size and the position it occupies, as 
a huge plant in a pot twelve or fifteen inches in diameter; 
but, as a general rule, plants that bloom profusely and 
early cannot be expected to do so continuously for the 
season, and retain a fine healthy fediage. In fact, the 
browning of the foliage is a general test that the plant 
has done enough iu the flowering way for that season. A 
few of the earlier, more twiggy, and compact kinds, such 
as Qlobosa, and the first of all, Goccinea and its varieties 
(it may be interesting to some to know that the Coccinea j 
is still to be found at the Oxford Botanic Gardens), 
will keep on blooming for a long time, if well sup- i 
