L 
fie fatties' Slarral Btxliuiet mrul ^Pictorial Home iaompxtuaii. 
1 
HM 
GLOXINIA, GESNERIA, ACHIMENES. 
These three varieties of plants I met with first 
about two years ago, and was so delighted-with them, 
that I concluded to try my skill, and the result has 
been so gratifying, I hope to tempt others to try. 
They seem comparatively but little known outside of 
the greenhouse, and many think such necessary for 
their well-doing, but with care and some jmtience 
any one may enjoy them. 
The Gloxinia is a bulbous root; there are two va¬ 
rieties, many colors of each kind, the erect and droop¬ 
ing ; the shape of the blossom of the latter is quite 
similar to that of the Maurandya Vine, only much 
larger. They can be raised from seed, or leaf; if by 
the latter, insert the base of it into a small pot filled 
with sand; keep moist and in a warm shaded place, 
in about two weeks little roots make their appearance. 
Into a small pot put broken crock and dry moss, 
then the earth with a good proportion of sand; in this 
plant the rooted leaf to form the bulb ; keep in same 
temperature ; when the bulb has made some size, it 
will throw up tiny leaves ; now place in a sunny win¬ 
dow : water sparingly, but be careful to keep the wa¬ 
ter off the leaves. 
When the flower-buds make their appearance they 
will be very close to the root and bent as if intending 
to bury themselves out of sight; but as they grow 
raise up, and when in bloom, borne on a long stem 
far above the leaves, are stately, rich and beautiful; 
will remain in bloom from May to September. If 
some are retarded by keeping in a cool place after 
blooming should be gradually dried off; leave in the 
earth and keep in a cool dry place; give them two or 
•three months rest, then repot in fresh earth, giving 
but little ‘ water until vigorous growth has com¬ 
menced. 
The seed should be sown in soil prepared as for the 
leaf; water the earth, sprinkle on the seed, but being 
very fine, do not cover; put a piece of glass over it, 
and place in a moist heat; when they sprout, they 
will be lying, on top, and are very difficult to handle. 
One would find a quill a good thing to lift them with, 
and set them into the earth ; keep shaded for a few 
days, then put as near the glass as possible. When 
they have made some growth, pot off singly ; it will 
be quite a year before they come into bloom, but such 
a gieat variety of colors are thus obtained, one feels 
quite well repaid. 
The Gesueria is a tuber composed of tiuy scales. 
There are many kinds; a well-grown plant is a beau- 
iful sight, with its soft velvety leaves, the red or 
ruby color is gorgeous, the bloom of scarlet, is very 
rich, but insignificant in comparison to the foliage; 
another is of green and brown mottled, looking like 
the old-fashioned embossed velvet; are grown in per¬ 
fection and much used in wardian cases; can be pro¬ 
pagated from the little scales and from the leaf, treat¬ 
ing in like manner as the Gloxinia ; but be very care¬ 
ful and not let the water fall on its leaves ; it will soon 
cause ugly brown spots to appear which gradually de¬ 
stroy the leaf. 
The Acliimenes is a tuber similar to the Gesueria, 
increased by scales or by cuttings; in appearance is 
very like the old variety of pink summer-blooming 
Begonia, growing so freely from seed, the leaf a pale 
green, with ribs red; it should be grown in a warm, 
moist place, and would thrive in the first stages of 
growth in the kitchen, if no other place bad the pro¬ 
per heat. 
As they grow, tie to little stakes, as they are easily 
broken ; pinch them often, as they are inclined to grow 
spindling. The flowers are of all shades and are very 
lovely, making a fine show used as a basket plant; 
put several into a wire moss-lined basket, give plenty 
of water, and syringe it daily. They thrive well with 
the great heat, which is death to many plants used 
for that purpose, and a very pretty sight it is, as it 
hangs, to see the rich effect of the sun through its 
leaves. 
So few of our basket plants bloom, the Aehimenes 
is quite an acquisition. This, like the two foimer, 
needs a season of rest, but a month would be suffi¬ 
ciently long for this. By following these few rules, 
the most inexperienced will rejoice in the creation of 
much loveliness. 
For whoso careth for the flowers, 
Will much more care for Him.” 
Irene II. Williams. 
DISEASED BULBS. 
It is a grievous annoyance to find one’s rarest Lily 
dying, when symptoms of decay were unsuspected. 
But whence originates bulb disease ? Is it from ex¬ 
cess or lack of moisture? Too great or too little 
depth of soil ? Is it from excess of heat, or excess of 
cold ? Or are there elements in the soil deleterious 
to the imported bulb ? If we could confidently deter¬ 
mine any of these the cause of disease, we might still 
be puzzled to say why some of our choicest Lilies 
thrive and bloom a few years after being brought to 
this country, and then suddenly decay. 
The disease of bulbs bears some analogy to the po¬ 
tato rot. In some cases the substance changing to a 
soft, dark, pulpy mass, of most disagreeable odor, not 
unlike ordinary vegetable putrifaction. In others, and 
perhaps the greater number, we find something an¬ 
alogous to the dry rot of the potato, with no percep¬ 
tible odor. 
I do not mean to say the diseased spots have that 
pithy appearance noticeable in the potato. On the 
contrary, the structure often appears unchanged, ex¬ 
cept in color. Taking a Lily, for example, you will 
find red spots more frequently a dull copper color on 
the scales. 
Some of these are very minute, others covering the 
width of a scale, especially near the base. This seems 
to indicate a layer of sand beneath the bulb, as often 
recommended for Hyacinths, might he a preventive. 
And yet, freely as I use sand in preparing a Hyacinth 
bed, I doubt its utility with some varieties of Lilies. I 
think, for two or three years, my Candidum Lilies 
had too much sand and sunshine. I think my Japan 
Lilies were nearly ruined liy the same. Yet in neither 
case did I discover signs of disease in the bulbs. They 
grew puny, dwindled, had few blossoms, and the foli¬ 
age died early. But just as I had decided sand was 
ruinous, a friend, who had grown luxuriant Japan 
Lilies ten or twelve years in a very rich soil having 
a yearly dressing of stable manure and no sand, in¬ 
formed me her spotted Lilies were all dead.. 
My Excelsum Lilies were planted in a loose, sandy, 
well-drained soil. They bloomed so well, I had no 
suspicion of disease until wishing to remove them one 
autumn, I found the bulbs three-fourths consumed, 
and the remainder spotted nearly to the centre. My 
Washingtonianum was planted in the same soil. It 
came up and wore a healthy look, so far as I could 
judge, for one month. Then it disappeared. I found 
no trace of it in the fall. 
My first Chalcedonicum was planted in the centre 
of my Hyacinth bed. I wasted a few regi'ets that I 
did uot plant Washingtonianum there, as I knew it was 
not possible for a bulb to rot in that bed where noth¬ 
ing ever failed. The next spring I waited till the 
middle of April, then dug it up to find the lower part 
of the bulb a dark, pulpy mass. Then, as I had pre¬ 
viously done with Excelsum, I cutoff all the discolored 
portions, washed the mutilated scales and the little 
central core, which, if I remember rightly, had its 
base also removed by the knife, and planted them 
with pulverized charcoal under and around each frag¬ 
ment. 
Not wishing to wait for my dismembered patients, 
the following autumn I ordered another from Ilovey, of 
Boston. While preparing to plant this in the same 
place, I laid bare a small hut healthy-looking bulb, 
well supplied with rootlets, the result of my spring 
treatment. 
I have often been amused reading directions for 
taking up Longiflorum Lilies and keeping them in 
sand in the cellar during winter. I considered my 
Longifloruins as hardy and self-reliant as any bulbs. 
They never failed to come up green in February. I 
would almost as soon have thought ol bringing in a 
maple tree to keep it alive during winter. But one 
warm, windy day, last spring—they had been green 
six weeks or more—I discovered tufts of leaves blow¬ 
ing from them, and, upon examination, found them 
rotted off close to the ground. Upon digging, I found 
the bulbs so spotted and speckled that it became nec¬ 
essary to cut them nearly all to pieces. They had 
bloomed four or five years in the same place. 
I do not understand the causes of bulb disease. In 
the cases, mentioned, it was not caused by excess of 
moisture or by excessive cold. 
Some suppose they are injured by the heat of sum¬ 
mer, and advise planting all the choice Lilies in pots. 
Heat could hardly affect Washingtonianum andChalce- 
donicum above-mentioned, as both died before their 
first summer. 
In regard to the efficiency of charcoal and surgery, 
I am not prepared to say all I could wish. I have 
never lost a Lily entirely when I have used it; yet in 
the cases of Excelsum and Chalcedonicum, where hut 
one came up the following spring, I suspected that one 
was from the central core or heart of the bulb. When 
bulbs grow from scales, they are always formed at 
the lowest corner. Sametimes a tiny bulb at each 
corner of the base of a scale. It hardly seems rea¬ 
sonable to expect hulhlets after the base has been cut 
away; and yet, as I dig up three or four scales of the 
diseased Longiflorums, planted last spring, I find 
little bulbs growing on them ; one scale scarcely an 
inch in length and less in breadth, having a tiny bulb 
in each corner of its lowest side. I cannot help think¬ 
ing that these very scales passed under the pruning 
knife. The largest number, of course, perished, but if 
only one were saved, it would he worth the trial. 
Mrs. L. M. McFarland. 
The best time to sprinkle plants is in the morning, 
and before the gas is lighted at night. 
The leaves of large foliage plants, if standing in 
rooms that are occupied, should he daily dusted. 
The leaves of Ivy plants should he sponged and 
carefully wiped weekly. 
