. AMARYLLIS, 
Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 
37 
There is one thing in their management 
that those who essay their culture will do 
well to bear in mind—that they do not, 
especially the evergreen kinds, lke their 
roots disturbed. Disturbance is the less 
necessary, as they do not need a great deal 
of pot-room, and always do the best when 
the roots have well filled the soil; at the 
same time this must not be carried too far 
by allowing them to starve for want of 
sufficient root space, or the flowers they 
produce will not be so numerous or so fine, 
nor will the plants increase as they 
ought to do by throwing off offsets. They 
ean be raised from seed, and those who 
take an interest in hybridising have an 
ample field before them in raising new 
varieties by crossing. 
When the seeds are ripe they should be 
sown in well-drained pans filled with good 
yellow loam, to which has been added as 
much sand as will keep the soil in a con- 
dition that the water can pass through it. 
Cover the seeds slightly, and place the pans 
in an intermediate temperature of 60° in 
the night, and proportionately higher in the 
daytime ; give as much water as will keep 
the soil moist. When the young plants 
make their appearance allow them plenty 
of light; as the days lengthen, give 5° 
more heat in the night and 10° or 15° in 
the day ; let them have enough water, and 
admit air, as they will not make satis- 
factory progress if too much confined. It 
is not well to disturb them from the seed 
pans until they have made several leaves 
and the bulbs have begun to form, which 
condition they will be in towards the close 
of summer if all has gone well with them. 
They should then be placed singly in small 
pots, well drained, and the soil pressed 
quite solid about the roots. They generally 
succeed better when the greater portion of 
the bulb is covered in the soil than when 
potted higher above it. This applies to 
all their stages of growth. At once return 
them to the coolest end of the stove, and as 
the object is to keep them in growth summer 
and winter for a couple of years, so as to 
save time, the temperature may now be 
kept from 55° to 60° in the night and a 
little more in the day; they should be 
attended to regularly with water. As solar 
heat increases, raise the temperature pro- 
portionately, and as soon as the soil is well 
filled with roots, shift them into 4-inch or 
5-inch pots, draining sufficiently and makg 
ing the soil quite solid, as in the first potting. 
Grow them on without delay by constant 
heat and moisture, and plenty of light all 
through the summer and autumn ; winter 
in a similar temperature to last year; in 
the spring move them into 6-inch pots, 
and treat in every way as in the past 
summer. In the autumn place them where 
they will be under the ripening influence 
of all the sun and air possible, and 
gradually withhold water; through the 
winter stand them on an airy shelf in a 
temperature of from 46° to 50°, with just 
enough water to prevent the leaves flagging ; 
and in the spring again give more heat and 
moisture. If the bulbs have attained the 
strength that they should have from the 
treatment prescribed, most of them will 
flower ; after which give such as appear to 
require it pots an inch larger, and place 
them through the summer under similar 
conditions to promote growth as hitherto 
advised. In the autumn and winter repeat 
the ripening and resting process, but never 
attempt to keep them too cool in the winter 
—through this cause innumerable quanti- 
ties of these fine plants have been lost. In 
their native country the only change they 
are subject to is from hot and damp in their 
growing season, to dry during the period 
of rest, consequently they will not bear to 
be kept too cold in the winter. Fora time 
they will stand a lower temperature than 
that above given for their season of rest, 
but there is always danger of their decaying 
when so treated, and it also impairs their 
strength. In succeeding summers give 
small shifts when it is evident that they 
need more room, but not otherwise; as 
they get strong they will push offsets that 
can be taken off and grown on singly, 
managed as advised for the plants raised 
from seed. The above treatment of course 
applies to seedlings that have been raised 
from evergreen kinds, and are similar in 
habit to the parents. To such as are 
deciduous, no water must be given from 
the time that the growth is fully matured 
and ripened up in the autumn until they 
are to be started in spring; in other 
respects the treatment required is the same. 
Both the evergreen and deciduous kinds 
want a plentiful supply of water whil t 
they are making growth ; any stint at this 
stage will be sure to impair their strength 
and inflict serious injury. They will also 
be benefited at this time by a frequent 
supply of manure-water not too strong. 
This splendid genus of plants has within 
the last few years received from many 
plant-growers the attention it deserves, and 
has emerged from a state of comparative 
neglect, to which it seems unaccountable it 
should ever have been consigned ; yet that 
it was so neglected is undoubtedly the 
case, for there is ample evidence to prove 
that Amaryllises were much more generally 
grown half a century since than they are 
at present. 
