Bath and back, a distance of 52 miles, in addition to having been exhibited two days.  They returned to their home apparently little the worse for wear, which immunity from harm is no doubt owing to the admirable system of tying adopted by Mr. Lye.  It is sometimes said that the act of trying in the flowering shoots in this manner gives the plants a somewhat severely formal appearance, but there is an abundance of healthy foliage and a wonderful profusion of finely developed flowers, showing the most careful and painstaking cultivation.  It is only those who are privileged to see these unrivaled plants who can appreciate them at their proper worth.

It has been stated already that the varieties figured are all of Mr. Lye’s own raising, which facts attests to the value of his seedlings, many of which he has produced.  Four of these are dark varieties, viz., Bountiful, Charming, Elegance, and the Hon. Mrs. Hay—­the latter one of the oldest, but one of the freest, and scarcely without an equal for its great freedom of bloom.  The remaining five are light varieties, viz., Lye’s Favorite, Harriet Lye, Star of Wilts, Pink Perfection, and Beauty of the West.

[Illustration:  MR. LYE’S FUSCHIAS.]

The specimens figured average from two to five years of age.  It is really marvelous what Mr. Lye can do with a fuchsia in two years; and lest it might be supposed that he has plenty of glass accommodation, and can keep his plants under glass continuously, it is due to him it should be stated that he is very deficient in house accommodation, having but two small houses, in one of which (an old house) he winters his plants and brings them on until he can place them with safety in the open air in early summer.  His method of treating the specimens as set forth in his own words may prove helpful to some of our readers:  “After the plants have done flowering, say about the third week in October, I cut them back into the shape best fitted to form symmetrical specimens, and keep them dry for a week or ten days, to check the bleeding of sap which follows; after that I give a little water just to start them into growth, so as to make shoots about three-quarters of an inch in length, in order to keep the old wood active and living.  I keep them in a cold house, and give but very little water until the first or second week in February, when I shake the old soil from the roots, and re-pot them into a fresh compost made up of three parts good loam, one part well decomposed manure, and one part leaf-mould and peat, with a good bit of silver or sea sand to keep it open.  In order to make large specimens, they are shifted as soon as the pots are filled with roots.  About the first week in June I place them out of doors on a border somewhat sheltered, and syringe the plants freely every day during hot weather to keep the foliage clean and healthy.  I top them back till about seven or eight weeks before I want to show them, according to the requirements of the variety, as some of them require it to be done more freely than others.  I give them liquid manure, using what I get from the cows, which with some soot is put into a tub, and allowed to stand a week or ten days before using, and I give them a good dose once a week as they show signs of flowering.”