The Garden Under Glass

THE BEST FLOWERING PLANTS 77 in. Strong dark succulent foliage, with a tendency to in-curve rather than recurve, seems to set off the flowers best and renders moving of the plants easier. Wide, flat flabby leaves do not add to the refinement of the plant. Methods of Propagation As mentioned, they are three in number, and I ad vise them all as part of a progressive policy. Seeds should be procured from a nurseryman who is known to have a good strain. When the seedlings flower let the best be marked so that the corms may, af ter drying off, be grown for a second and again for a third year. From any of these selected, take leaf cuttings and so perpetuate the best kinds. By sowing a few seeds each year the vigour of the stock is kept up and oft-times more beautiful forms are introduced. The earlier the seeds are sown in the new year the better, and I think the method of sowing begonia seeds might well be imitated here. As soon as it is possible to handle them a pan should be prepared for pricking them off about an inch apart. Later they may be removed to a box with the space between them increased to three inches, and from there to 3-inch and then to 5-inch pots, which will be a sufficient size for the first year’s flowering. The leaves used for propagation may be from the young or the o Id plants, but it is preferable that they be large, fully matured leaves. If they are cut clean with about half-an-inch of foot-stalk and inserted upright in a box of sandy soil placed in a warm house, they will root within a few weeks, but it will be some little time before the young growths spring up. These might safely be left in the box during the first year and under careful treatment will make corms as large around as a half-crown. After being dried off they will rest for a time, and when starting in the