536 
April 20, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
HINTS FOR AMATEURS. 
The Tuberous Begonia. 
The lovers of gardening for it? own sake, who are 
never more happily employed than when they are 
■' pottering round,” as some one has phrased it, their 
few square feet of glass, may well regard with un¬ 
qualified delight the great attention that has been 
paid by florists to the improvement of the Tuberous 
Begonia, until from a somewhat ungainly and 
decidedly straggling habited plant, with its compara¬ 
tively small and loose flowers, we have got a plant 
as dwarf in habit as could be desired, bearing flowers 
of large size, good form, and of many and brilliant 
hues, ranging from deepest crimson to purest white. 
Yellows also are not without their representatives, 
although up to the present we have no yellows to 
vie with the pinks and scarlets in excellence. Doubt¬ 
less this is but a question of time. 
As an amateur’s plant the Tuberous Begonia takes 
a lot of beating, and may be seen in all its glory in 
many a cottage window during the summer season. 
As a bedding plant also it is well nigh perfection, 
and is, in fact, the only subject that has threatened 
to seriously affect the popularity of the scarlet Zonal 
Pelargonium as a subject for the filling of beds and 
borders in the flower garden. Apart from its un¬ 
deniable beauty and usefulness duiing the growing 
season, the Tuberous Begonia possesses the addi¬ 
tional merit of being very easily satisfied during the 
winter months. The question of heat during winter 
is perhaps the most serious and perplexing one with 
which the amateur is called upon to deal, and thus 
the plants which he is able to cultivate must stand 
cool treatment during the dull months of the year. 
Of all subjects the Begonia is perhaps the most easy 
to winter. 
Plants which have been grown in pots will have 
been suffered to become dry, and, after all the old 
growths have fallen off, the pots containing the 
tubers will have been stored away in a shed or cellar 
from which frost has been just excluded. At the 
approach of severe frost, any plants which have 
been growing outside should have been lifted, the 
tubers placed close together in shallow boxes, and 
covered with sand. These boxes may have found a 
place upon the shelves of the storehouse, and their 
contents should also have passed through the winter 
safely. As the season is now getting on, however, 
no time must be lost in looking after them, if indeed 
they have not already received the necessary atten¬ 
tion. All those tubers which it is intended to plant 
out in the flower garden should be taken out of the 
sand and placed in rather shallow but well-drained 
boxes, packing them nicely in with any light sandy 
soil that may be to hand. They must then be re¬ 
moved into a warm growing temperature, and the 
surface of the soil kept moistened with the syringe 
twice or thrice a day. Under such conditions they 
will soon start strongly into growth. As soon as the 
tubers have made a good start, and the young 
growths are about a couple of inches in length, they 
must be taken out of the boxes and planted in a bed 
of light rich compost, which may be made up in a 
pit or frame. Keep the plants fairly close, and main¬ 
tain a moist growing atmosphere, and thus ensure 
the possession of good strong plants in readiness for 
bedding out as soon as all danger of frost is past, 
and from which a brave display of bloom may be 
looked for during the ensuing summer. 
For pot Begonias a little more attention is neces¬ 
sary, although their culture in this way is also ex¬ 
ceedingly easy. The tubers should be knocked out 
of their pots, and all of the old dry soil shaken away, 
potting them up into small pots to start them. A 
compost of equal parts of loam, leaf soil, and peat, 
with plenty of sharp sand, will answer admirably. 
Do not bury the tubers too deeply, only just cover¬ 
ing them with the soil, and, above all, do not pot 
too firmly. Too firm potting with the Tuberous 
Begonia is a great mistake, for it will be found that 
the tubers exhibit much stronger root action, accom¬ 
panied with a corresponding vigour of growth, when 
the soil is comparatively loose. A warm greenhouse 
temperature will also be an essential, together with 
the same conditions with regard to moisture as were 
recommended as necessary for those plants which 
were intended for use in the flower garden. 
As soon as the pots have become well filled with 
roots, a shift into larger pots will be necessary. The 
compost this time should be light but rich, and thus 
a little dried manure may be mixed with it. Less peat 
should be given, and a little more loam than was 
recommended for the first potting. The soil may 
also be made rather firmer around the plants in this 
second potting than it was in the first. Pressure 
from the fingers will, however, be quite sufficient to 
impart the necessary firmness, and on no account 
should a rammer be used. In the after treatment 
the most important point is to see that an abundant 
supply of water is given the plants, for carelessness 
or neglect in this matter means failure as the 
Tuberous Begonia revels in copious supplies of water 
during its growing and flowering season. Shading 
will of course be also very necessary during bright 
days. 
Staking, too, is a matter of no small importance, 
and upon its proper performance depends in a great 
measure the possession of shapely and well-grown 
plants ; for the growths made are usually so succu¬ 
lent as to be too heavy to support their own weight 
unless some artificial support be given. If green 
painted stakes are procurable these should be used, 
as perhaps they are the neatest of any. Take care 
when inserting them in the pot, however, that their 
points are not allowed to pierce the tubers, as this is 
a manifestly harmful proceeding. 
Weeding out. —It often happens that as the 
tubers increase in age a corresponding deterioration 
in the shape and size of the bloom is noted. A con¬ 
stant weeding-out of inferior plants should therefore 
be kept up, for a bad plant takes up quite as much 
room and in many cases much more than a good 
one. All plants of straggling habit, or those bearing 
poor and worthless blooms, should therefore be rele¬ 
gated to the rubbish heap without delay, as it should 
be the aim of every cultivator to obtain plants of 
dwarf habit and free blooming qualities ; and it is 
not possible to attain this desirable end by other 
means than by the constant selection of the best 
varieties, and by the consistent removal of the 
inferior ones.— Rex. 
--»*-- 
A COLLECTION OF 
IMANTOPHYLLUMS. 
There are some critics who urge that the name 
should be spelt Himantophyllum, seeing that it 
is taken from two Greek words, imantos, a leather 
thong (the i being aspirated), and phyllon, a leaf. It 
refers, of course, to the leathery and strap-like 
character of the large evergreen leaves, which are 
so conspicuous a feature of this class of plants. The 
flowers adorn the houses during winter and spring, 
but in greatest force and in best condition during 
March and April. The leaves are effective at all 
times of the year. A collection of varieties may 
now be seen in the nursery of Messrs. J. Veitch 
Sons, Chelsea. The plants are located in two 
houses, though the bulk of those in flower are staged 
in one of them, and present a gorgeous appearance, 
such as plants of this class are capable of effecting. 
The plants are moderate in size, being confined to 
small pots, so as to get the greatest quantity in bloom 
from a given space. Large pots encourage a great 
development of foliage without a corresponding en¬ 
largement of the flowers. Feeding with liquid 
manure while the flower stems are being developed 
helps the blooms wonderfully when the root-room is 
restricted. Amongst the numerous varieties now in 
flower we noted the peculiar features of importance 
that render them so serviceable in greenhouses and 
conservatories at the present time. The large and 
long flowers of Excellent are deep orange, with a pale 
yellow throat. Alongside of it Excelsior appears of a 
soft orange. There is a considerable amount of 
white in the throat of the long, funnel-shaped 
flowers of Acquisition ; the broader portion of the 
segments is warm orange. Where large flowers 
of moderately dark colours are appreciated, this 
possesses considerable merit, but by contrast the in¬ 
tensely orange-scarlet flowers of Brilliant will shine 
forth even more conspicuously. At the same time, 
whether the varieties are brought into contact or not, 
the rich, dark green hue of the foliage shows off the 
blossom to the best advantage. The flowers of 
Marie Reimers are differently shaped from any of the 
above, being short, bell-shaped, and of a brilliant 
orange hue. A fine variety is Madame Van Houtte, 
with long, funnel-shaped flowers of a rich orange- 
scarlet ; the segments are also broad and overlapping, 
so that they give to the individual bloom an aspect 
of solidity and compactness which is not to be met 
with in the comparatively open and starry blooms of 
the original and wild type, which is getting scarcer 
every year in cultivation as the new and improved 
forms increase and take its place. The bold and 
handsome appearance of both foliage and flowers 
cannot be surpassed by anything of this class for 
spring decoration of cool houses. 
--*•- 
PLANTING OUT ONIONS. 
The practice of sowing Onion seed under glass 
and of transplanting the seedlings when ready to 
their permanent positions outside has of late years 
increased considerably in popularity, and is practised 
and recommended by many good vegetable growers. 
Still, the method of sowing the seeds in the open 
ground is still the usual custom, simply because it 
possesses the merit of age. This year, however, the 
ancient practice of sowing outside has received some¬ 
what of a check, and many of those growers who 
made undue haste in getting their seed in before the 
ground was properly fit will now be watching eagerly 
for its appearance above the soil, and in more than 
one case, perhaps, lamenting its non-appearance and 
their undue haste. Seed that was sown in boxes 
under glass should have furnished an abundance of 
strong young plants, which, if they have been 
pricked off into pots or boxes, will stand unharmed 
until the weather allows of their being planted out. 
Until this is done, how 7 ever, it is very necessary that 
they should be kept as close to the glass as possible, 
and air given them whenever it is possible to do so. 
The ground which it is proposed that they should 
occupy should meanwhile be thoroughly prepared 
before planting out is thought about. In addition 
to the heavy manurings which will have been given 
as a matter of course in the autumn, a good dressing 
of soot and wood-ashes must now be given, and 
forked well in. This will serve the double purpose 
of acting as a first-rate manure, and also serving to 
assist in the destruction of any vermin that may be 
present in the soil. The young plants may be taken 
out of the pots or boxes in which they have hither¬ 
to been growing, and with as good balls as possible, 
a trowel beiDg used for planting. The distance be¬ 
tween the plants should be about nine inches, and 
eighteen inches of space beiDg allowed between the 
rows. A good watering-in must be given when 
planting is completed. Treated thus the plants will 
grow away without experiencing much of a check, 
and will soon get hold of the manure that has been 
previously incorporated with the soil, and fine large 
bulbs fit for any exhibition table will result; indeed, 
this is the method usually adopted for obtaining 
those monsters which are to be seen upon our exhi¬ 
bition tables during the autumn months. 
Not only is this the best plan for procuring large 
bulbs for show purposes, but it also has much that 
should recommend it to the favourable notice of the 
holder of small gardens who wishes to make the 
most of every square foot of his limited garden area, 
for heavier crops can be procured in this manner 
than when the time-honoured custom of sowing the 
seed in the open and thinning the plants as required 
is practised, although its adoption may entail the 
expenditure of a little more time and trouble. This, 
however, is amply compensated for by the excellence 
of the material obtained.— Beclie. 
-- 
DENDROBIUM JAMESIANUM. 
Of all the species of Dendrobium of thenigro-hirsute 
section D. formosum and D. infundibulum with their 
varieties are most often met with in collections, 
while several allied kinds turn up now and again, 
but are difficult to keep in good condition. D. 
infundibulum and its variety D. i. Jamesianum repay 
the cultivator's skill as well as any, and have a fine 
appearance when well furnished, with their large 
snowy blossoms and orange throat, sometimes 
almost scarlet. The variety under notice comes 
from the mountains which separate Burmah from 
Siam, and grows in a variety of positions according 
to the locality and conditions. Plants from the 
Arracan mountains grow upon trees, but those from 
the higher mountains on the borders of Siam grow 
upon rocks and have shorter and much stouter 
stems, often thickened and almost globular. The 
inside of the lip is rough with small elevations or 
outgrowths along the veins, and this circumstance, 
together with the different form of the side lobes, 
serve to distinguish the variety from the type. 
Owing to the high elevation from which it comes, it 
succeeds in a lower temperature thanD.infundibulum, 
and when its special wants are attended to by a 
careful cultivator who loves his plants, it produces a 
considerable quantity of bloom. The accompanying 
