188 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
ture would be fatal. If kept dry, and not colder tlian 
45°, the tubers will be safe. I have had them consider¬ 
ably lower than that, but the game is not a safe game 
to play at. In a greenhouse vinery, where the tempera¬ 
ture may range from 35° to 45° in winter, the pots 
should be turned on their broadsides, and placed in an 
iuconspi«uous position at the warmest part of the house. 
I have frequently kept them, and always safely, in a 
shed where the furnace of the house was situated. There 
is less danger if the leaves have been well ripened, and 
the tuber in consequence firmer, before storing. If the 
soil should be apt to get too dry during winter, we prefer 
throwing some water about the pots instead of in them. 
Some would recommend our amateur friends to take the 
tubers out of the pots, and keep them in bags in a cosy 
corner—near the ingle in the parlour. But though this 
would do, neither care nor labour would be saved, and 
there would be the danger of getting a fleshy juicy tuber 
as attenuated as a shrivelled mummy. One advantage, 
and a great one, arising from keeping the tubers in the 
soil in which they were grown, is the preserving of their 
freshness, even though the soil be dry, unless it be so 
near the heating apparatus as to be baked. To prevent 
this in a cool house, we have covered the pots with 
boxes, such as empty tea-chests, &c. 
Growing Period. —Towards spring the tubers will 
begin to push from the cluster of buds placed in the 
centre; then, but not till then, should they be repotted. 
If you do scarcely force the vines, the plants would be all 
the better then to forward them a little in a cucumber frame 
afterpotting, taking care, however, that no sun strikes the 
leaves while there is condensed moisture upon them. 
They may then be taken back to the vinery when the 
general temperature there approaches 60°. In want of 
the accommodation of a liot-bed, we have made a tem¬ 
porary one, near where the flue enters, or the boiler is 
situated, just to give them a start. If you do not put 
fire to your vines until April, something of these means 
must be taken to give a fine display of bloom in June. 
If you keep a temperature of 43° during winter, and 
commence increasing it for the vines in the beginning 
of March, your Gloxinia plants will want no such cod¬ 
dling; they will progress along with the vines, and 
reward you with their blossoms for several months from 
the end of June, and earlier if previously assisted. 
As soon as the shoots have sprung from a little to an 
inch we like to repot them ; and at that early season it 
is advisable that the soil should be heated a little, to 
prevent a sudden check. We prefer removing almost 
entirely the old soil, but saving what few fibres may be 
fresh and growing. The size of the pot will depend 
upon the size of the tuber, and whether you pot upon 
the one or the successive shift system. We prefer the 
latter for those that are small, and the former for those 
that are large. An 8-inch pot will contain a large plant, 
from which, in several kinds, you may have from 60 to 
100 blooms expanded at once. Be careful in potting to 
keep the tuber or bulb near the surface, only slightly 
covered. Equal portions of leaf-mould, jieat, and loam, 
with half a portion of silver sand, will grow them well; 
but they will succeed better if to this is added half a 
portion of old dried cow-dung, and half a portion of small, 
but not dust, charcoal. All the materials, except at the 
surface of the pot, should be rough, and the pots well 
drained. Water should be given carefully and rather 
sparingly at first; when in full growth and bloom they 
will require it often and liberally. A manure solution 
will not then be distasteful, but it should be of a cool 
nature, such as that formed from two-year-old cow-dung, 
with just a little lime to clear it. When done blooming, 
and before storing is past, the plants should stand full 
in the sun under glass, and receive less and less water, 
that the roots may be well ripened. 
Propagation. —They may be propagated easily by 
[June 27. 
seed, leaves, and,cuttings. Seeds sown early in spring 
will produce flowering plants the following season; a 
few may bloom th6 same season. Garden hybrids are 
thus produced by cross-breeding; leaves taken off and 
inserted by their footstalks will form tubers that will 
bloom the following season. If there is a bud where 
the leaf is separated from the shoot, the tuber will be 
the stronger. In rare kinds, a score or more of plants 
may be made from a single leaf. In this case, all the 
reticulated nerves on the back of the leaf should be 
notched with a sharp knife, and this underside of the 
leaf should be fastened to damp sand on the surface of a 
well-drained pot, and a bell-glass put over it; unless 
from the strongest nerves, the tubers formed will be 
small, and, therefore, will not bloom so early as when 
only one tuber is formed from a leaf. This, altogether, is 
a pretty experiment for young beginners. In strong 
plants, the shoots produced will be more numerous than 
you can find room for; and these thinnings made into 
cuttings, and treated with a little heat and shade in the 
usual way, will make nice little flowering plants for the 
end of summer and the beginning of autumn. 
I shall conclude with mentioning a few desirable 
kinds:— 
Maculutn —one of the oldest; looks best when only one large tuber is 
used; purple. 
Speciosa —blue ; compact growth. 
S. pallida —pale blue. 
5. Cartoni —pink; several varieties under the same name, one very strong 
growing ; the best has light blotches in the segments of the corolla. 
S. alba —white; pure ; compact. 
Caulescens —light purple ; large flowers. 
Maxima alba —white and blue ; compact, beautiful. 
Discolor —lilac, blue ; a poor thing, but the leaves are pretty. 
Leuchonerva —flowers similar, but better and more abundantly produced; 
the leaves beautifully veined with white. 
Pussinghumii —violet; large fine flowers. 
Rubra —red; one of the best; there are several varieties, such as maxima, 
superba , See., but for general usefulness they are little superior to 
the species. 
Haiidleyana —white and red, similar to Albo coccinea and A. sanguinea, 
if not synonymous ; all of them are excelled by 
Qrandis —of similar habit, but not yet common. 
Fyfiana— white, with bluish margins; the flowers have the peculiarity of 
standing upright; very pretty ; a little shy. 
Carminates splendens —carmine ; good and large. 
Teuchlerii —pinkish-red, dashed and blotched with bluish-purple ; a most 
beautiful thing when it comes true, but very apt to produce pinkish- 
red blossoms. I have now a plant with a number of stems, and on 
only two of these shoots do the beautiful and desirable blossoms come. 
I would recommend more than the usual proportion of heat for this 
variety. 
Begonias. —As a note in addition to the article of last 
week, allow me to recommend the Begonia cinnabarina, 
in the possession of the Messrs. Henderson, of Pine¬ 
apple-place,—a bright orange, different, therefore, from 
all others, and likely to suit the greenhouse in summer; 
if not, our friend Mr. Appleby will correct us. 
R. Fish. 
HOTHOUSE DEPARTMENT. 
EXOTIC ORCHIDACEAi. 
plants that require baskets —( Continued from p. 102). 
Lacima bicolor (Two-coloured L.).—Guatemala. This 
is not a plant with showy flowers, hut is worth cul¬ 
tivating, because the spikes are long, frequently as much 
as two feet, and the flowers are set thickly upon it. The 
foliage is handsome ; colour a pale greenish butf; the 
petals have three violet-coloured stripes; the labellum 
white, with a dark purple spot in the centre. Place it in 
a basket lined with moss and filled with rough fibrous 
peat. The Mexican house will suit it best. 21s. 
Odontoglossum citrosmum (Lemon-scented O.).—Mexico. 
This is a most lovely species, with flowers of a delicious j 
lemon-like scent. The colour of the flowers is very 
delicate—pure white in the centre, shaded off to the edge J 
with rose. The racemes are, when well grown, more j 
than a foot long. They are decidedly of a pendulous J 
