428 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



[ May an, 1873. 



In ?Iay the pot may bo plunged into the borders, or the 

 entire ball of earth may be turned out, if care be taken not to 

 disturb the roots. In following the former plan, we have the 

 advantage of being able to remove the plant from the ground 

 as Bflon as the flowering season is past, and thus protect it 

 from rain to any desired extent ; the pot can also be then 

 more fully exposed to the sun's influence, by which the ripen- 

 ing of the bulb will be materially aided ; and this is of so much 

 the more importance, that we believe the whole secret of the 

 successful cultivation of the Calochorti consists in getting the 

 bulbs ripened at an early period of the autumn. When planted 

 without the pot, the bulbs should on no account be dug up 

 before the foliage has decayed ; where this does not take place 

 so quickly as is desirable, it may be greatly assisted by screening 

 the plant from moisture in any form. 



When removed from the soO the bulbs shoiild be dried in 

 the shade, and carefully preserved from damp and frost until 

 the return of spring. Those which may have been planted in 

 a pot will, however, be best kept in it during the winter, the 

 soil being allowed to become entirely dry after the decay of the 

 stems and foliage. 



Each bulb produces one or two stems about 18 inches or 

 2 feet high, with linear pointed leaves, fewer in number than 

 in most of the other spf cies. The flowers, two on each stem, 

 are produced about midsummer, and, uuUke those of the 

 Trigridiawe have more than once referred to, remain expanded 

 several days ; and from the beautiful manner in which the 

 petals are spotted with crimson and yellow stains upon a pure 

 ■white ground, present, when fully open, a truly magnificent 

 appearance. The petals of all the species are curiously bearded, 

 either at the base or a short distance above it, as in the case 

 of the species represented. 



The genus comprises four or five other species, all very 

 handsome plants, although the one we have figured is certainly 

 the most remarkable. The flowers of Calochortusluteus, which 

 is rather hardier than the others, are yellow, beautifully spotted 

 with brown ; those of C. splendens, lilac ; of C. palUdus, a pale 

 dingy brown ; of C. macrocarpus, purple ; and of C. nitidue, 

 purple ; but we have never met with any account of this last- 

 named species, and we therefore imagine that it has not yet 

 been introduced to this country. They are all increased by 

 offsets, and also by seed, which must be sown as soon as ripe. 



Well defined as are the leading characters of most of the 

 natural orders or tamiUes into which botanists, for conveni- 

 ence, have divided the vegetable kingdom, there are few of 

 them which are not by some of their genera connected with 

 other orders ; so that, however dissimilar many of these fami- 

 lies may at first sight appear, they aU, in reality, merge into 

 each other by almost imperceptible gradations, and form parts 

 of one harmonious whole. 



Illustrations of tbis truth may be readily found in the 

 natural order, the Lily tribe, to which the genua Calochortus 

 belongs. In this order, the outer whorl of floral leaves, or 

 sepals as they are termed, are of the same colour and substance 

 as the inner whorl, or petals, being, in other words, petaloid ; 

 and, in fact, they resemble each other so closely, that in certain 

 genera it is difficult to distinguish them. 



But in the genus under consideration, there is a departure 

 from the type of the order ; the three sepals being green and 

 leafy, and altogether different in their appearance to the three 

 petals, approaching in this particular the Spiderwort tribe, 

 Commelinaceffi, although in other respects it agrees with the 

 characteristics of the order in which it is placed. It is very 

 closely allied to the Fritillaries and the genus Cyclobothra, 

 but is destitute of the pit-like nectary at the base of the divi- 

 sions of the flower, by which those two genera are distinguished. 

 The generic designation Calochortus, like so many other 

 botanical terms, is derived from the Greek, and is compounded 

 of lialox, beautiful, and cltortos, grass. Most, if not all, of the 

 species we possess were sent to the London Horticultural 

 Society from California l)y poor Douglas, whose untimely 

 end botanists of every land will not soon cease to deplore. — 

 (W. Thompson's English Flower Garden.) 



The Kotal Horticultueal Society's Show at Bath is fast 

 approaching. Will some one kindly suggest one or two sub- 

 jects for discussion at the Congress ? I know Mr. Thistelton 

 Dyer will be glad of any subject being suggested likely to be 

 of general interest, but we must not run into the error of the 

 last Congress of having too many papers and no discussion. 

 I should suggest two evening sittings in a room, not a tent, not 



more than two papers each night, but each paper on the same 

 subject ; twenty minutes for the first paper, fifteen for the se- 

 cond; fifteen minutes for prepared speakers, ten minutes for 

 those who send in their cards to the Chairman. The Chairman 

 to have the power of selection in case more cards be sent in than 

 time will admit. Prepared speakers to send in then" names 

 before the day, and not more than two to be selected, but any 

 not selected to have the preference at the discussion as ten- 

 minute speakers. If not opening too wide a field for scientific 

 discussion, I should like to hear a congress debate on the proper 

 functions of leaves, and whether they can absorb moisture, (Sic. 

 — C. P. Peach. 



A FEW WORDS on PLANTING BEDDING PLANTS. 



We are from various chxumstanees late this season, and 

 instead of having planted we are merely preparing, and will 

 scarcely do much before this appears. Many are regretting, 

 they planted out tender subjects before the sharp frost of the 

 past week. The plants were safer than they would otherwise 

 have been owing to the comparative dryness of the air during 

 the frost. Owing to this our Apple and Strawberry blossoms, 

 the latter opening nicely, have suffered Uttle or nothing, though 

 some Potato tops have been injured. As the bedding plants 

 were undergoing a preparatory hardening process, they have 

 suffered Uttle or nothing. Now, though we are late, we shall 

 soon make up for lost time, but not by planting in cold un- 

 prepared ground ; I would rather delay a few days than plant 

 in cold lumpy soil. Gain in time is actually obtained by delaying 

 a little, provided by turning and turning again you can warm 

 the soil by digging down sun-heated soil. Of course all beds 

 and borders would have been well prepared if it had been 

 possible to have done so earlier, but they will soon be in first- 

 rate order. 



This preparation is one of the essentials of future success, 

 and the hint will apply to most places. Far north of London 

 one cause of failure is planting in unprepared soil, even though 

 there be boasting as to the earUuess and celerity with which 

 the work is done. It reminds me of the way in which I have 

 seen some farmers treat their Turnip crop — they give the ground 

 a ploughing and a harrowing, and then throw in the seed, 

 and expect a heavy succulent crop. The successful Turnip- 

 grower resorts to many ploughings, haiTOwings, and rollings, 

 BO that the ground may be something like an Oniou bed before 

 he deposits the seed in the drills. A little labour bestowed in 

 turning and airing the eoU of a flower bed wUl improve its 

 appearance for the season. 



The preparation of a flower bed must be carried out on a 

 system. Let the ground at first be well stirred as deep as the 

 subsoil, which also should be broken, but in general cases keep 

 the poorest soil deepest down, and the richest at the surface. 

 If any manure is applied let it be sweet, and be chiefly used at 

 from 4 to 6 inches from the surface. When very fine foUage 

 is required the manure should go deeper ; when I used to grow 

 many subtropical plants in our exposed place, I often put 

 1 foot or 18 inches of the hottest manure from dung and short 

 grass at a depth of 18 inches from the surface, and it was 

 astonishing how free the growth was. The large massive 

 foliage did not suit this exposed windy place ; the finer the 

 foUage the sooner it was stripped into ribands. If I were 

 practising sub-tropical gardening again, I would have a place 

 on purpose, fully exposed to the sun, yet sheltered from cold 

 and sweeping winds. With some exceptions such as these, all 

 beds that are intended to produce abundance of bloom, with 

 good yet moderate-sized foliage, should have the poorest soil 

 farthest from the surface ; the richer soil near the surface is 

 intended to cause free growth at first, and then as the roots go 

 deeper in the poorer soil flowering wUl be encouraged, and 

 mere growth will be checked. The deep turning of the soil has 

 this great advantage, that it renders the plants and the planter 

 to a certain extent independent ef the season, be it wet and 

 shady, or dry and hot. In the former case the rains wUl pass 

 away more readily ; in the latter the roots will go deeper, and 

 the moisture from beneath will rise more freely in obedience to 

 the demands from the sun's rays. Two years ago I saw a 

 small flower garden, the beds untouched previously, dug nicely 

 over and planted at once, about the 20th of May. The plants 

 did as well as I expected them to do, and that was not saying 

 much. They cost five times more labour for a jxjor result 

 than would have been involved in a little more preparation and 

 airing of the beds. 



Another fertile cause of want of full success is planting 

 when the soil about the roots is comparatively dry. No future 



