98 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



mould, peat, and silver sand must be used, in equal quantities, and 

 chopped up fine, without being sifted. For subsequent shifts, use 

 silky loam, full of fibre, leaf-mould, and peat, in equal proportions. 

 A small quantity of sand must be used, but the exact quantity must 

 be regulated by the composition of the loam and peat ; that in 

 which sand already exists in large quantities will, as a matter of 

 course, require considerably less than others in which it is not to be 

 found. To sift the mixture is to spoil it ; every particle of fibre 

 must be preserved, and, it may be as well to add, that very little 

 success can be expected if close compact stuff is used. It should 

 be nicely chopped up, and mixed together, and then it will be ready 

 for use. If the peat is of a sour or unctuous nature, it will be best 

 not to use it, but increase the leaf-mould and sand, or add a little 

 cocoa-nut fibre refuse, which will act as a capital mechanical agent 

 in giving free passage to the roots, and providing a free escape for 

 the water. It should not bear a greater proportion to the loam and 

 leaf-mould than one-fifth part. The soil being ready, the bulbs 

 must be carefully shaken out of the old soil, and potted in small 

 60's, growing point upwards ; the tips just covered with soil, and 

 the pots plunged in a bottom-heat of about 70°, a few degrees more 

 or less will not make much difference. Until the young plants are 

 nicely up, the soil must be kept just moist; for to keep it soaked 

 with water at this stage, would simply make it too sour for the 

 roots to take kindly to it. When these pots are nicely filled with 

 roots, and the plants have made three or four leaves each, they 

 should be shifted into 48's, and as these get filled with roots, into 

 24's, which size will be quite large enough to flower them in. 

 Plants intended for table decoration must be kept in the 48's, or, at 

 the most, transferred to 32's, and assisted with weak manure-water 

 at about every third watering. The drainage in all cases must be 

 perfect. After they are nicely rooted in the 48's, the bottom-heat 

 can be dispensed with, or, if not convenient, they need not have that 

 assistance. When once the young growth is well above the surface, 

 air-giving must be regulated by the weather and the time of year ; 

 the plants will not stand a full exposure to its influence. On the 

 other hand, they must not be kept too close, but have just sufficient 

 to keep them stocky and well proportioned. Like other woolly- 

 leaved subjects, these will not stand frequent syringing overhead, 

 therefore the atmosphere of the house must be sufficiently charged 

 with humidity to keep down red spider and thrip, without the aid of 

 the syringe. For the first lot a vinery at work is a capital place 

 until the grapes begin to colour. The weather by that time will be 

 getting warm, and the plants can be transferred to the greenhouse 

 to flower. Later batches must be kept in a warm house altogether, 

 though they will not require much artificial heat during the summer 

 months. As they finish flowering the supply of water must be 

 diminished gradually, until the need for it ceases altogether. As the 

 foliage and stems die away, lay the pots on their sides, in a tem- 

 perature of 40° or 50°, where they can remain until the time arrives 

 for starting again. The bulbs can be taken out of the soil, and kept 

 in small pots or paper bags, full of sand, and placed in a warm cup- 



