300 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



Jam AKV 13, 1898. 



they have made three or four leaves and 

 the bulbs have commenced to form as well. 

 Just as soon as they reach this stajje, pot 

 them off singly in well drained 2 'i-inch 

 pots, being careful to press the soil good 

 and firm about the miniature bulb, which 

 should be at a depth so that its neck is 

 about on a level with the surface soil. 

 From now onwards they nuist be kept 

 growing briskly and as soon as they have 

 tilled their pots with roots, be shifted on 

 into a larger size, 4>i-inch being usual, 

 but the careful grower may expedite pro- 

 gress by saving an intermediate shift and 

 put the' plants into 6-inch polsdircct. 



Plants from seed raised as here advised 

 should be kept growing summer and win- 

 ter until they reach the flowering stage. 

 Ordinarily the amaryllis rests completely 

 several months of tlie year, but the young 

 ones nuist not be subjected to any resting 

 conditions before the second summer of 

 their growth. As autunni approaches, 

 the treatment should be with a view to 

 ripening the bull« by admitting air 

 freely, and gradually withholding water 

 throughout the winter after the leaves 

 have ripened and fallen, and keeping the 

 plants at a temperature of from 45° to 

 50°. This treatment is for strong bulbs, 

 capable of throwing a flower spike. If 

 there are weaklings in the batch they had 

 belter be withdrawn and kept growing on 

 for yet another year. 



When once flowering bulbs are secured 

 the annual treatment is a matter of rou- 

 tine. After the usual rest the bulbs nut.st 

 be started again, January being the usual 

 month. The bulbs should be turned out 

 from the pots, all or nearly all the soil 

 shaken off, and the bulbs repotted in a 

 good compost of three paits loam and one 

 part thoroughly rotted manure, size of 

 pot being governed by size of bulb, 6-inch 

 and 8-inch being the best sizes. Very 

 little water will be required at the start, 

 and the flower spike or .spikes will soon 

 appear pushing upwards from the base 

 of the bulb, and in advance of the leaves. 

 In a general way a batch of plants may 

 be brought into full flower in eight weeks 

 from starting them. Bearing this in mind 

 ■when one has a largt; slock it is possilile 

 to have success on all batches to a limited 

 extent, starting some as early as Decem- 

 ber and deferring others until March. 



As before remarked, the flowers come 

 first, the leaf growth afterwards, and there 

 must be no abatement of interest or lack 

 of attention when the flowers are cut 

 or faded, as the grower from then oti- 

 wards has to lay the foundation, as it 

 were, for the next season's blooming; so 

 active growth nuist be maintained on into 

 the month of August, from then to Sep- 

 tember conditions favorable to ripening 

 nuist prevail, and then comes rest in a 

 slightly lower temperature. 



To sum up in lirief, there are six 

 months of active growth and two months 

 of preparatory treatment for the four 

 months' total rest. These seedlings will 

 of course show the fullest range of variety 

 in color, somewhat also in form and more 

 or less likewise as to flowering propensi- 

 ties. While all should give a spike of several 

 large flowers, some bulbs may give two, 

 and a few will develop three, as one I once 

 saw exhibited having sixteen large 

 flowers. 



So far these details of treatment apply to 

 raising stock from the seed strains at 

 present obtainable in the seed trade, but 

 there are some really good species that 

 have been more or less popular in culii- 

 vation, as .Amaryllis aulica, from Rio 

 Janeiro, at one lime greatly prized for its 

 beauty before hybrids became numerous. 

 It has very large flowers of a rich crimson 

 color with green base. A. reticul ila, from 

 Brazil, is prettily colored in pink and 

 white. A. Ackermanni, rich crimson, and 

 A. vitatta, ^''hite, striped with red, are 

 two parents that have contributed largely 

 to the hvl>rid race. I must not forget A. 

 Johusoni, granted specific rank, but in 

 reality one of the earliest hybrids and a 

 fine variety still, to be recommended for 

 its robust growth and free blooming, its 

 flowers deep red with a white band down 

 the center of each petal or segment of the 

 flower. 



South Africa has given us a fine mem- 

 ber of the amaryllis family in \'allota 

 purpurea, and surely it is worth while 

 working up a stock of this for conmier- 

 cial purposes. .\Uhongh belonging to 

 the same family it is evergreen in charac- 

 ter, therefore demands .some modifica- 

 tion of the treatment before indicated. 

 In its culture it must never be subjected 

 to complete resting conditions, nor does 

 it need annual repotting. It increases 

 freely by offsets, can be grown on into 

 magnificent specimens and flowers most 

 abundantly when large, old and pot- 

 bound. 



There is lieside me as I write a picture 

 of a large specimen that had been photo- 

 graphed, fifty-three spikes of blooms 

 each having from five to seven flowers. 



-*^ 



THE AMERICAN BEAUTY, 



No better Beauties come to the Chicago 

 market than those grown by Mr. E. Buett- 

 ner. Park Ridge, 111. Mr. Buettner is 

 now propagating his plants for next year. 

 He uses cuttings with from two to three 

 eyes. He prefers these to one-eye cut- 

 tings because they carry the foliage 

 higher above the sand, and because there 

 is apt to surely be some foliage left to sup- 

 port the cutting in case some should drop. 

 And he finds that the longer cuttings root 



They are fully three inches across and 

 their color is bright red. The vallota 

 has been in cultivation over one hundred 

 vears, so that a quantity of it should be 

 easily procurable, and I believe bulbs 

 can be imported from its native haunts. 

 Ordinary greenhouse temperature suits it 

 at all times, with abundance of water 

 during the spring and summer months. 

 It flowers late in the fall and at this per- 

 iod might be made of considerable serv- 

 ice to tlie florist. During winter it may 

 be partiallv rested with a diminished 

 water supply, but at no time should it 

 ever sufl^er for want thereof. 



Sprckelia forniosissima, another hand- 

 some member of the family, is now 

 more often called Amaryllis formosissinia 

 but the first is an old garden name and is 

 likely to linger longer yet. It is a native 

 of Mexict), from where it was introduced 

 to Spain in 1593, while Parkinson wrote 

 of it as the "Indian daffodil w'th a red 

 flower." The Dutch grow this in large 

 quantities and it is easily procurable at a 

 cheap rate, while the bulbs planted out 

 in spring flower shortly after. It can be 

 grown in pots, however, and might be 

 found a useful flower for the latter part 

 of spring, when .some novelty is wel- 

 come. I'nder pot culture its treatment 

 would be much the same as that for the 

 hybrid amaryllises, resting it completely 

 in winter, while after flowering in spring 

 the plants might be removed to some 

 frame or simple outside structure where- 

 in to complete and ripen their growth. 

 The flowers are of a uniform rich dark 

 crimson hue, about five inches long, but 

 rather less in width, the two lower seg- 

 ments of the flower having their bases 

 enfolded, imparting to the flower an 

 unique form both quaint and pretty. 

 The flowers usually come singly on a 

 stout stem a foot in length. 



A. HERRINGTON. 



Madison, N. J. 



more freelv and make better plants. 

 Beauty cuttings drop their leaves easily 

 and a cutting without at least one leaf re- 

 maining is considered worthless by Mr. 

 Buettner. He knows that some growers 

 pot up the bare poles if they have roots, but 

 he doesn't want any such plants in his. 

 He is not particular as to what part of the 

 plant the cutting comes from so long as 

 the wood is ripe but not too hard. 



He pots the rooted cuttings into 2'2-incli 

 potsand these are later shifted to 3-inch; 

 and probably the earliest propagated are 

 shifted to 4-inch before planting out time, 

 which is about the middle of June. Thrips 

 are the greatest pest the Beauty grower 

 has to contend with. They can be kept 

 down only by frequent fumigation, which 

 must be thorough and not less often than 



