May 8.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
noduled charcoal and silver sand. After carefully pot¬ 
ting, if you could plunge the pot in a hotbed command¬ 
ing a bottom heat of 80°, and a top temperature of 50° 
to 55°, your roots will be produced more freely, aud the 
shoots will come stronger and bloom earlier. Failing 
these conveniences, the next best method is to put a 
handligbt over the pot in the greenhouse, to keep it 
close and warm for a month ; and failing even this, the 
plant should be kept rather close and shaded for a couple 
of weeks, and even then you must not expect to see the 
bloom so early. After growth has fairly commenced, 
the next thing to do is to regulate the shoots. If you 
have a good old stool, you will have many more of these 
than the plant can properly support. From three to six 
will be enough for an eight-inch pot, and so on, in propor¬ 
tion to the size of the plant. A few fine spikes are always 
more interesting than a mass of pigmy ones. Thin out 
the shoots, so as to leave those of an equal strength of 
growth ; if any difference must be, retain a strong one for 
the centre. This should be done when the shoots are two 
or three inches in length; but do not throw the thin¬ 
nings away—we shall advert to them presently. If grown 
in the greenhouse, give them all the light aud heat you 
can consistently with the welfare of your other plants, 
and, above all, be particular in watering. One thorough 
drying will give you the chance of small spikes of bloom, 
or the yellowing, or losing the lower leaves, the presence 
and luxuriant green of which set off the flowers to the 
best advantage. A saucer may, therefore, be used below 
the pot, provided the water does not stand in it at any 
time above the quarter of an inch. Manure-waterings 
from cow-dung and a little soot, not strong, may be 
given alternately with clear water. As the shoots get 
longer, more air must be given, so that the plants have 
plenty of light and air too, before the time the bloom 
expands. 
Propagating .—There are various ways of doing this. 
First, by cutting the young shoots into pieces of at least 
two joints in length, and inserting them, after drying 
their base, into sandy soil, under a hand-light, in a 
gentle heat. Secondly, by cutting down the old stems 
when nearly ripe, after flowering, cutting them into pieces 
each containing a separate bud, placing them firmly in 
pots as thick nearly as they would stand, covering with 
half an inch of soil, and placing in a hotbed, with a 
temperature of from 70° to 80°, just as is done with 
vine eyes. But the best mode of increasing the stock, 
is by means of the thinned-out young shoots we re¬ 
ferred to above. These, cut over at the base with a 
sharp knife, and the cut part dried by exposure for 
twenty-four hours, while the top part is kept green 
by moisture and shading, will root freely in a sandy soil 
under a hand light, with a bottom heat of from 65° to 
75°, and when rooted should be potted off and encou¬ 
raged ; the sooner they are potted the better will they 
succeed. 
Resting .—After flowering, and when the stems are 
ripened, cut down the plants; let them be kept dry but not 
baked dry, or the juices of the underground stems will 
be exhausted. Instead of watering them in winter, a 
safer plan is to pack the pots in and cover them over 
| with moss, in any place where frost will not get at them, 
and thus the roots are maintained in the happy medium 
of being neither wet nor dry. 
Insects .—The Green Fig sometimes attempts a nibble 
at the points of the shoots, but he is easily dislodged 
with a puff of tobacco. The Red Spider is a more trou¬ 
blesome enemy, and soon takes the gloss out of the 
finest foliage. If once he gets hold, farewell to the 
interest of your plant for that season. The syringe 
freely used, and sulphur steamed from a hot-water plate, 
will soon cause him to flit, and the use of these fre¬ 
quently will always act as a preventive, by keeping 
him at a respectable distance. Now and then, I have 
seen the thrip try them for a meal, and he is a trouble¬ 
some customer to get rid of. He does not relish any 
of the above modes of treatment; but the most effectual 
starter I have found, is dashing the leaves with a weak 
infusion of bruised laurel leaves, made the same way as 
our good ladies brew their tea; but mind that it be 
weak and fresh. R. Fish. 
HOTHOUSE DEPARTMENT. 
EXOTIC STOVE PLANTS. 
Begonia. —This is a genus of plants remarkable for 
their oblique or unequal-sided leaves; they are at all 
times of the year more or less in flower, and their flowers 
are generally showy and pleasing. Our good friend, 
Mr. Fish, has already, in The Cottage Gardener, 
written very ably on them as greenhouse plants, and we 
agree with him, that in summer they may be grown in 
that department; yet there are so many plants whose 
proper place is in the greenhouse, and also more appro¬ 
priate to it, and considering that most of the Begonias 
are essentially inhabitants of the stove, where they 
flourish with far greater luxuriance and beauty, we 
think Mr. Fish will agree with us in placing them there 
as in their proper place, indispensably in winter. We 
shall, therefore, in this paper cull a few of the very best 
species, and recommend them to our stove-plant growing 
readers as desirable plants for that house. 
Begonia alba coccinea (White and Scarlet B.); East 
Indies.—One of the most beautiful of the whole family; 
even the leaves alone render the plant ornamental, they 
are nearly round, bright green on the upper side and 
reddish underneath. The flowers are produced on up¬ 
right branched panicles very numerously; they are 
scarlet before they open, and pure white inside when 
expanded. The height they attain is seldom more than 
one foot, this renders them useful for the front rank of 
the stage or pit A very ornamental species. 3s. Gd. 
B. argyrostigma (Silver-spotted B.) ; Brazil.—The 
leaves of this species are its greatest ornament; they are 
large, and spotted all over with distinct pure white 
spots. The flowers are produced on close cymes or 
bunches, towards the upper part of the stems, from the 
axils of the leaves; they are white and pretty. 2s. 6d. 
B. cinnabarina (Vermilion-coloured B.); Bolivia.— 
This fine species was introduced by Mr. Clarke, and 
presented by that gentleman to the Messrs. Henderson, 
of Pine-Apple-place; in their stove it flowered for the 
first time in 1848. It is a stove bulbous plant; coming 
from a temperate clime it was thought, at first, the 
greenhouse would be its proper abode, but experience 
proves that in that situation the bulbs perish in winter. 
The foliage is large, of a silvery grey green, tinged with 
red at the edges. The flower-stems spring from the 
axils of the leaves, in a large, open, rather drooping 
panicle. The flowers are large, of a bright orange 
scarlet colour. The flower-stems are almost transparent, 
and of a rich crimson colour. It is a fine species, de¬ 
serving every care and attention. 5s. 
B. coccinea (Scarlet B.) ; Brazil.—Though not so 
dazzling in colour, nor with such large flowers as the 
preceding, this is a very elegant species. The foliage is 
handsome, and the flowers are of a bright scarlet colour, 
produced on short racemes from the axils of the leaves, 
towards the extremities of the shoots, hence they must 
not be cut in nor stopped till after the bloom is over in 
June. 2s. 6d. 
B. Dregei (Mr. Drege’s B.) ; Cape of Good Hope.— 
A dwarf-growing, very leafy bush, producing abundance 
of neat heads of pure white flowers. Very useful for 
cutting for bouquets. 2s. 6d. 
B. fuchsioides (Fuclxsia-like B.) ; New Grenada.—An 
upright-growing plant, with, when well grown, nume- 
