THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GDIDE. 297 



atmosphere, I would rather have my fruit exposed to a few degrees 

 more cold than have it constantly enveloped in a soft warm air, 

 because I am satisfied fruit so kept will be divested of that brisk 

 aromatic flavour which properly preserved fruit has ; and if we aim 

 at securing these features, depend upon it we must first secure an 

 equable temperature in the room, and maintain at the same time a 

 dry moving atmosphere. At all times we must avoid a parching 

 brisk air, or the fruit will soon show its dislike to it by commencing 

 to shrivel up. 



A GAY CONSERVATORY IN WINTER. 



BY JOHN BUELET, F.E.H.S., 



Hereford Road Nursery, Bayswater, W. 



HOSE who would have a gay conservatory in winter 

 must be up and doing, for now is the time to take 

 active steps towards receiving a plentiful supply of 

 flowers from Christmas onwards. I have also con- 

 sidered it desirable to direct special attention to this 

 subject now, because the Dutch bulbs may be termed the sheet 

 anchor for winter and spring decoration, and now is the time to 

 buy and pot them. 



For their bright and attractive colours the Tulips will be 

 found most useful. We generally manage to have the Van Thol 

 in bloom about the end of November. These bulbs are planted in 

 boxes as thick as we can place therm, side by side, in the early part 

 of September ; they are then placed out of doors and covered up 

 nearly a foot thick with cocoa-nut fibre ; they remain so until the 

 end of October, when we remove a box or two into heat, and tliey 

 come nicely into bloom and well coloured in two or three weeks. 

 As they bloom we carefully lift them out, and in some cases pot 

 them six or eight in a pot to make a show. The surface of the pot 

 should be nicely covered with fresh green moss. Tulips treated this 

 way are always much admired for their fresh and bright appearance. 

 When the usual method of potting the bulbs in the first instance is 

 followed, the flowers are not so uniform as by the plan we follow, 

 but I think the flowers last longer. They look well also when 

 planted in pans and blended with ferns, the graceful fronds of which 

 look charming resting here and there on the bright tulips. After the 

 Van Thols are over, we have, to follow in succession next, the 

 Tournesol, crimson and yellow : Bride, white and carmine ; Gris de 

 Lin, bright rose ; Oo'lden Startdard, yellow and red ; Vermilion 

 Brilliant, scarlet; La Candeur, yvhite; and While Fottehakher ; finish- 

 ing up with Oesneriana and Rex Ruhrorum, both bright kinds and 

 strongly coloured. The last-named are about the latest of them all. 

 All the tulips, no matter whether grown in pots or boxes, are 

 plunged under the cocoa-nut fibre, and removed to the forcing- 

 house as required. 



The same system is adopted with HtjaciniTis ; in fact, this is the 



Oct<i>ier. 



