174 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
HOTHOUSE DEPARTMENT. 
EXOTIC STOVE PLANTS. 
GESNEltACEyE : ACHIMENES. 
Propagation by Guttings. —The young tops of these 
plants will strike easily if put in sand, under a bell- 
glass in heat, and potted off as soon as rooted. Gesneras, 
Gloxinas, and other families of this order, will sooner 
make blooming plants by the same method. If the cut¬ 
tings are put in as early as March, they will flower well 
the same season, and succeed the old plants in bloom¬ 
ing: thus prolonging that season till late in the autumn. 
By Division. —The roots of Achimenes and some Glox¬ 
inias, that is the perennial roots, are scaly. Each scale, 
if detached and placed in pots of light earth, and slightly 
covered, will make nice plants, that will flower next year. 
We have occasionally divided the large bulbs or tubers 
of Gesneras and Gloxinias, exposing them a short time 
to dry up the wounds; but unless they have grown in¬ 
conveniently large, or are very scarce, this practice is 
needless, as they increase so freely by cuttings. They 
may also be increased by leaves, either whole or cut into 
small pieces. For new varieties this is an excellent 
method. The leaves, if put in whole, should be managed 
exactly like cuttings. If a hud he taken off the stem 
with the leaf, that bud as soon as roots are formed will 
push forth; but if no bud is taken off, the leaf will form 
a tuber at the bottom of the leaf stalk, and that tuber 
will send up young shoots in the spring. It is a curious 
circumstance, that a leaf should have, as it were, the 
power without a single bud to form a tuber ; nay, more 
curious still is the fact, that the smallest portion of a leaf, 
provided there is a vessel in that portion, has the same 
power, though in a less degree; and this is the more 
remarkable when we consider the kind of leaf. It has 
abundance of sap in it, so much so, that it might be 
expected to rot almost instantly. No doubt life is pre¬ 
served by the leaf, or portion of a leaf, being placed in 
a situation where evaporation is prevented, that is under 
the bell-glass. 
By Seeds. —To obtain new varieties seeds must be 
saved. This has been done already to a great extent, 
especially in the large family of Gloxinia. Bright 
colours have been obtained, but tire great desideratum 
yet to be achieved is to obtain fine form, substance, 
and magnitude. The properties of a good Achimenes or 
Gloxinia should be: first, a good shape—that is, the 
flower should be quite round at the mouth of the tube; 
the edge quite smooth, and not at all reflexed or turned 
back. The flower-stem ought to be stout—able to sup¬ 
port the flower well up above the foliage. It should 
support the flower so as to show the inside markings, 
spots, or shades. The flowers ought to be produced 
numerously, so as to have, at least, six flowers open at 
once. The colours should be clear, distinct, and bright; 
the spot or blotch, if any, should be well defined. Where 
the spots are small and numerous they should be on the 
lower part of the flower, so as to be distinctly seen. 
Lastly, the flower should be large and of a good sub¬ 
stance. All these properties are pretty well exemplified 
in the variety of Gloxinia raised at Pine Apple-place 
Nursery, named Gloxinia grandis, and in the variety of 
Achimenes raised by some continental florist, named 
Achimenes longifiora alba. 
Raising \ aiuetjes. —Excellent as these varieties are, we 
have no doubt the persevering industry and skill now so 
much in exercise amongst the lovers of flowers will soon 
produce much finer varieties. Our amateur friends who 
have time and space cannot do better than amuse them¬ 
selves by raising seedlings of these charming ornamental 
flowers. In order to increase the probability of obtain¬ 
ing superior varieties, the seed should he saved from the 
best flowers, such as possess the properties described 
[June 20. | 
above; and if the pollen of one superior variety be dusted 
upon some other possessing some desirable property, 
either of colour, form, or size, the object will be more 
certain to be achieved. If the anthers of the plant in¬ 
tended to bear the seed be removed before they shed 
their pollen, the produce will be the more certain to have 
the desirable properties of the male parent. To prevent 
bees or other insects carrying to another plant the pollen 
of inferior flowers, cover the one operated upon with some 
fine gauze. All these precautions having been taken, 
nip oft' all other flowers on the plant; allow no water 
to fall upon the seed-vessels, and place the plant near to 
the glass. When the seed is ripe the seed-vessels will 
burst; it must then be gathered, and dried gently, 
and put away in a dry drawer, in a room where no 
frost can reach it. About the middle of February 
will be a good season to sow it. Prepare some shal¬ 
low, wide, clean pots ; fill them half full with pot¬ 
sherds, place some siftings of peat upon them, and fill up 
the rest with a compost of loam, peat, and very rotten 
vegetable mould, in equal parts, adding one-sixth of fine 
white sand, mixing them well together. Make the sur¬ 
face smooth and even with a round, flat piece of wood. 
Then sow the seeds thinly and equally on the surface, 
and sift through a very fine sieve the thinnest covering 
imaginable of the compost upon them—the thickness 
of a wafer will be enough. Water them with the finest 
rose watering-pot, and place them in a warm stove near 
the glass, shading from very bright sunshine. The 
seedlings will soon come up, and as soon as they can be 
transplanted, prepare pots similar to the seed pots, and 
prick out the seedlings in them half an inch apart. As 
soon as the leaves begin to touch each other, transplant 
them again singly into thumbqiots, one inchin diameter, 
in the same compost, and replace them upon the shelf 
near the glass. Be careful in watering, as they are very 
apt to damp-off at this critical period. Prepare now a 
gentle hotbed of one or two lights, or more, according 
to the quantity of seedlings ; and as soon as the heat is 
moderated, place upon the dung a thick covering of 
coal-aslies. By the time this is ready the seedlings will 
require repotting into 3-j-inch pots, well drained in the 
same compost. Place them upon the coal-ashes thinly, 
so as to allow room for the next potting. Great care 
must now be taken to shade them from the early sun in 
the morning, as the steam arising from the hotbed will, 
during the night, have clothed the leaves with dew, and 
half an hour’s bright sun would scald them. They 
should have a covering of mats during the night; and 
if the steam is very strong, tilt the lights behind with a 
thin piece of wood, to allow it to escape during the 
night. Give air also during the day, but so as not to 
allow the cold winds to blow in over the plants. As 
soon as the pots are moderately filled with roots, repot 
them into 5-inch pots, in a rather richer compost, by 
adding a little more leaf-mould. Continue the same 
attention in regard to watering, giving air, and shading. 
In these pots they may be allowed to flower, which they 
will do about the month of July. Such as may prove 
deficient in all the good properties will serve admirably 
to flower during the later months in the stove or green¬ 
house, and when the bloom is over may be thrown 
away; but such as promise to be of first-rate excellence 
should be kept in the frame a little longer: the removal 
of the commoner ones will give them more room to 
expand their leaves, and will allow them to have another 
shift into a little larger pots. 
Winter Management. —All the kinds—whether esta¬ 
blished favourites or good new varieties—should, as soon 
as the blooming season is over, be placed in a situation 
where no water can reach them. We keep them very 
well under the stages in the stove, or in a warm green¬ 
house, where the thermometer never is allowed to fall 
lower than 40°. As soon as the leaves turn quite yellow 
