CRINUM—HYMENOCALLIS. Greenhouse and Stove Plants. WOT 
C. candida. A summer flowering kind. 
From the Cape of Good Hope. 
C. spathulata. Flowers white, blooms 
in summer. Cape of Good Hope. 
CRINUM AND HYMENOCALLIS. 
These consist mostly of large-growing 
stove bulbous plants that bear very fine 
flowers ; they are so nearly allied to Pan- 
cratiums, that, so far as their cultural re- 
quirements are concerned, they need to be 
treated much in the same way that will 
suffice for the last-named division of 
Amaryllids, only there is this that must 
not be lost sight of in the management of 
the several species belonging to the col- 
lective Order, that they come from widely 
different parts of the world; some are 
found indigenous to the hot low districts 
of India, and also the warmer parts of 
America and the West Indies; others, 
again, are met with in the cool hill regions 
of India and at the Cape of Good Hope. 
Consequent upon this, although most of 
them enjoy a liberal amount of heat dur- 
ing the growing season, still there is a 
considerable difference in the degree of 
warmth they will stand when at rest. 
From this it is obvious that the cultivator 
will have to be guided by the temperature 
of the country from which the respective 
kinds come that he happens to grow. Like 
most plants of a kindred nature, after their 
growth is completed they require a good 
rest, at which time they must be kept dry. 
All the Crinums and Hymenocallis can be 
raised from seeds, which should be sown 
as soon as ripe; when this will be, of 
course will depend on the time of their 
blooming. Supposing that ripe seeds are 
at hand during the later months of the 
year, prepare a large seed-pan, drain and 
fill it with sifted loam, to which add 
enough sand to make it moderately open ; 
press the soil firmly down and strew the 
seeds over the surface about an inch apart, 
sprinkling a very little soil over them ; 
stand in an ordinary stove temperature, 
and give as much water as will keep the 
material slightly moist ; in the course of a 
couple of months the young plants will 
appear, after which place them near the 
light, continuing to maintain the soil in a 
healthy state as to moisture, but not too 
wet. In the spring increase the heat as 
requisite for the other occupants of the 
house or pit in which they are located. 
Their growth is not nearly so rapid as in the 
case of plants that come sooner to maturity; 
they will bear full exposure to the sun ex- 
cept in the brightest weather, and even 
then use no shading unless the leaves 
- 
show signs of being injured. By mid- 
summer prepare some more pans or pots 
with soil a little less sandy than was used 
for the seeds, and prick the seedlings out 
2 inches apart, pressing the earth quite 
solid about them. During the summer 
they will bear as much warmth as most 
stove plants, with a fair quantity of air 
daily, and water as is necessary to keep 
the soil in a fairly moist state. Give more 
air with a lower temperature in the autumn; 
winter them in about 60°, but do not let 
the soil get dry, as the object is not to 
subject the bulbs to a dry course of treat- 
ment until they are strong enough to 
flower. The spring following move singly 
into 5 or 6 inch pots, treating generally as 
hitherto, syringing overhead daily to keep 
down insects. If they have plenty of heat 
they will thrive fast this the second season, — 
and by the autumn, when the temperature 
is again reduced, they will have grown to 
a considerable size. 
Winter as before, and in the spring they 
should be big enough for putting into 8 or 
9 inch pots. Their management through 
the summer will require to be similar to 
that to which they have so far been sub- 
jected, and in the autumn some of the 
strongest should have the soil gradually 
let to get into a semi-dry state, giving only 
as much water as will prevent their being 
injured by over-drying. Again start them 
with warmth and moisture in the spring, 
keeping the strongest that have been dried 
in the same pots, but giving a shift to the 
others. Through the summer those that 
have been submitted to dry treatment may 
be expected to flower, after which move 
them into larger pots and encourage free 
growth till autumn. During the ensuing 
winter all that seem strong enough may 
be subjected to drier treatment, after which 
they may be expected to bloom regularly. 
Their natural time of flowering varies in 
the various kinds, and the treatment they 
receive causes a still further difference, so 
that with a sufficient number they may be 
had in bloom over a considerable portion 
of the year. All the species increase by 
offsets, which, when they have attained 
sufficient size, will bloom if left growing 
with the parent plant, in which case the 
size of pot is the only question, but 
mostly it will be found best when the off- 
sets have gained considerable strength to 
take them off and grow them separately ; 
this is best done in spring just before 
growth commences. The treatment of the 
divided plants will require to be in every 
way similar to that advised for the seed- 
lings. Like most other bulbous plants of 
a kindred nature, they do not like larger 
