Dormant tubers can be started in shallow 
boxes in the cellar, in hot beds with mild heat, 
in greenhouses, or in cold frames. In the last 
three cases they should be shaded since the 
sun eas.ly burns the tender young shoots. For 
starting use a light garden loam mixed with 
an even quantity of leaf mold, if your garden 
soil is rather heavy use one quarter garden 
soil, one quarter clean coarse sand, and one 
half leaf mold well mixed together. If you 
use flats space the bulbs three inches apart 
each way, or if you use pots, a three inch pot 
is large enough for the average bulb, fie very 
careful to get the tuber right side up. The 
rounded or convex side is the bottom while the 
concave or side showing an irregular cavity is 
the top. 
Press the tubers firmly into the soil so that 
the top is even with the surface or at most 
not more than a quarter of an inch below it. 
Start in a temperature of 45 degrees to 50 
degrees. Water as necessary, but do not get 
the soil soggy, nor allow it to dry out. The 
slower and sturdier the growth, the finer will 
be the display of flowers in the garden. After 
the plants are well established give them week¬ 
ly applications of weak manure water, but 
under no circumstances use fresh manure nor 
anything but cattle or sheep manure. 
The plot where you plan to have your Tu¬ 
berous Rooted Begonia bed must first of all 
have shade most of the day, and likewise be 
protected from strong winds. The soil should 
be well enriched with a four or five inch layer 
of old rotten barnyard manure over which 
16 % Acid Phosphate has been spread at the 
rate of one pound to ten square feet. These 
dressings must be thoroughly incorporated 
with the soil to a depth of nine inches. Then 
smooth the bed, spread ten pounds of bone 
meal per one hundred square feet, rake it into 
the soil lightly and give the bed a thorough 
soaking. Next day plant your Begonias spac¬ 
ing them fifteen inches each way. Set the 
plants an inch deeper than they stood in the 
pots or shallow boxes in which they were 
started. Keep the bed moist at all times and 
repeat the feeding operation with a top dress¬ 
ing of Bone Meal or Vigoro every three weeks 
at the rate of one pound to ten square feet. 
The flower sprays appear at every leaf 
joint. These sprays, usually have three flow¬ 
ers of which the center or most beautiful 
flower is the male, while on either side will 
be a much smaller flower, usually single carry¬ 
ing seed pods on their stems which identify 
them as the female flowers. As soon as these 
female buds are large enough for you to dis¬ 
tinguish them they should be removed, thus 
throwing all the strength into* the male flower 
which will grow much larger, have a stronger 
stem and last approximately three weeks in 
good condition. If you do not remove the fe¬ 
male flowers before they are poilenized then 
all three flowers will drop off in a few days 
and only the seed pods remain to develop. All 
dead flowers and stems should be promptly 
removed from the plants. 
Albamont Tuberous Rooted Begonias are 
fine for cut flowers. They make beautiful cen¬ 
terpieces when spread on ferns laid in shallow 
dishes—preferably large ones, or in bowls. 
They are likewise most attractive as individ¬ 
uals in bud vases. 
Probably one of the most economical bed¬ 
ding plants in which you can invest is the 
Albamont Tuberous Rooted Begonia, due to the 
fact that with proper care they will usually 
last from twelve to fifteen years, thus making 
them even cheaper than Geraniums. 
Considering the wealth of blooms of gor¬ 
geous and brilliant colors their freedom from 
insects and diseases, combined with ease of 
