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THE FLORIST S JOURNAL. 
using a much stronger mixture than before, say a third part peat, 
ditto strong fresh loam, ditto vegetable mould : in this mixture 
they will immediately commence a very luxuriant growth, and in 
a short time produce the bloom, which I have invariably found to 
be much stronger and more abundant than when suffered to pass 
the whole winter in what may be not unaptly termed idleness. 
And I may yet mention another instance in which the usual 
mode may be deserted, with infinite advantage to that well-known 
plant, the Fuchsia Fulgens, which, as all gardeners are aware, is 
a tuberous-rooted plant, and a most magnificent plant it is when 
properly grown ; but yet very frequently we hear a very great 
complaint of its long-necked stems : these maybe entirely eradicated 
by a departure from the “ stated rules.” Instead of treating it as 
a greenhouse-shrub, it should be treated as what indeedit actually 
is—a tuberous-rooted plant. My manner is this :—when the 
plant has done blooming, cut it down close to the earth ; then dry 
the roots in the same manner as the dahlia, and early in February 
repot them, and plunge them in a warm bark bed ; they will soon 
push out a great many shoots ; thin them out to about five or six, 
and, as the plant grows, keep it constantly shifted into a larger 
pot, using a stronger compost at each shift. I constantly keep it 
in a bottom heat till the flowers appear, then remove it by degrees 
into the greenhouse ; in this manner I have had plants five feet 
high, with the foliage down to the rim of the pot, and that of no 
ordinary description. On an average, each leaf was nine inches 
long, and five across, and the flowers generally about thirty or 
forty in each raceme. 
In conclusion, I cannot help remarking, the science of hor¬ 
ticulture is of such an indefinite nature, that, although very much 
has been written, there is always room for some fresh remark; 
and for this no work is so well adapted as the Florist’s Journal, 
in which, by your kind invitation, we may all in a friendly 
manner make known our little improvements and errors ; and, I 
think, those who wish well to horticulture cannot be backward in 
so doing. 
Amicus. 
