The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-03-22
ruBRous ROOTED BEaoN1As.

John Doughty's Interesting Paper or
 Their Cultivation.
 Read before the New Haven County
 Horticultural Society on March 4, by
 John Doughty.
 THE TUBEROUS ROOTED BE-
 COMA
 I will first give a brief history of the
 tuberous rooted begonia so called after
 M, Begon, a French botanst. The
 tuberous rooted hegonia originated
 from the following six species, B.
 Boliviensis, B. Pearcei, B. Veitchii, B.
 Rosetlora, B. Davioii, and B. Clarkii,
 these original species were discovered
 in various parts of Peru and Bolivia,
 at an elevation of from 10000 to 12,000
 feet. By the late Richard Pearce, as
 explorer and collector for the well
 known firm of James Veitch & Sons, Y nurserymen, Chelsea England, to whom the honor belongs of having laid the foundation of a new race of plants
 which the late John Laing and others have brought to such marvellous perfec- | tion.
 The first introduced was B. Bolevien- 1 sis in the year 1864 1t was first exhib- tied at the international horticultural exhibitor held at Paris France, in 1S67 and in the following year 1868 was put into commerce, at varying intervals the other species arrived, and the work of hybridisation commenced by John Seden, undoubtedly the most successful l hybridiser we have ever known espe- cially amonst orchids, little interest was taken in the original species except as curiosities until 1869 when the first tu- berous rooted begonia named Begonia Sedenii was exhibited before the Royal Horticultural Society, by James Veitch & Sons, this was the result of a. cross between B. Boliviensis and a species named From this date on other hybrids were produced from the same source. In 1875 the late John Laing turned his attention to this new rose of plants, and how he succeeded the whole world now knows. It would be impos- sible to here describe the marked i'm pavement he so rapidly made by his judicious cross breeding; about this time other noted men began to pay at tention to the same work, including such men as Van Houte of Cente, Bel gium, M Lemoine of Nancy, France, and others; the result of their labors We have as our pleasures to-day,
 The Begonia family consists of about $50 species which are distributed through Tropical America, Asia, and in Tropical and Sub Tropical South Afri- ca, in all of which countries they grow in great abundance. The Begonit as a family stands isolated as 1t were from even the nearest of their allies In the vegetable kingdom, being a readily recognized cllss of plants, some having ornament foliage as in B. rex, others having suculent or sub shrubbery stems as in the vernon and tuberous rooted species
 A few essential characters are, that l the perianth is irregular consisting in the male flowers of four sepals in two series rarely more or fewer, and the l female flowers five imbricating sepals. | The stamens are numerous and free | and occupy the axis of the flowers. The | ovary or seed vessel is usually three | celed or three angled, in case of the | double varieties, 1t is the male flowers | that are double and the female usually | single.
 The properties of d single flower are, form, most important, the circular form with broad overlapping petals is the standard of perfection, substances is very important also. Color. the clearer, richer. and brighter this the more val uable the variety Size must be con sidered as large flowers are favored. Freedom of Towering and habit of growth are equally important, the growth should be stout and compact with strong healthy foliage low down. and the plant should branch low down ln the stem, It Is more difficult to de- fine the good points of double flower. size of course is desirable, but not at the expense of form, round or circular outlined petals well arrained, and of good color are to be preferred other properties should be same a s the single 'orms.
 Propagation by seed the seed of these is so fine as to resemble fine brown snuff, therefore great care is re- luired in sowing it. The compost to be ised for this purpose should be light md rough not sifted, a mixture the major portion of leaf soil. a little loam md plenty of course grained sand an wers well, after placing drainage at he bottom of the pot or pan filled with his mixture, press down moderately firm then sift little fine over the , ough compost, make firm even mooth surface, soak the vessel in wa CT until the whole is moist, allow to try off al title before sowing the seed, , oW thinly and evenly and only dust , fine compost over the seed , 0 keep it in it's place. The vessel con- { aiming the seed should then be plunged , n slight heat the temperature of the : ouse should not be lower than 65 at ! ( tight. place a piece of glass over the n eeds and cover this with paper until . takes place, which will be- {; in from two to three weeks according 0 the heat at command, as the young eedlings appear gradually remove the 7 aper and admit light, but avoid the z un or the whole will be scorched up few minutes
 Always keep the compost moist, when {, ne seedlings are large enough prick :, hem out into flats filled with the same . and keep them growing until 4 aady for pots singly, then gradually 6 lcrease air and light as growth ad- ances. If sOwn In January and proper =