66 BULBS AND TUBEROUS-ROOTED PLANTS. 
in cold storage, where they cannot start, the more dan- 
ger there is of their starting, and if started before they 
are put into boxes they will not perfect their flowers. 
A wide difference of opinion exists as to the temper- 
ature into which they should be placed. But the most 
approved plan seems to be to start them in a low temper- 
ature, say from 50° to 60°, and running it up as high as 
90° before they come into flower; after that place them 
in a cooler house, say from 60° to 70°, to harden off. 
Most growers keep them dark until considerable growth 
is made, to draw them up as much as possible. We 
have seen them flower to perfection when the boxes were 
placed underneath the benches, on the pips, bringing 
them into full light after the first bells were opened. 
But good strong spikes of bloom are best obtained when 
they have plenty of light and air, and with a temperature 
of 85° to 90° after they are first started. 
They may be started and flowered in pots very suc- 
cessfully, by following the same course of treatment 
from the start. Twenty-five pips can be grown in a 
seven-inch pot, and, when they are well grown, they 
meet a ready sale in the markets. Although there is 
but one species, there are several varieties, among them 
a pink-flowered sort, and a double-flowered variety, 
neither being useful nor beautiful. 
COOPERIA. 
A genus of bulbs allied to the Zephyranthes, but of 
larger bulb, stronger habit of growth, and producing 
larger flowers. The flowers are mostly white, and they 
open quite flat, always first expanding at night, but 
when once open they remain until the petals fall. They 
are, properly, winter-flowering plants, and it is difficult 
to keep the bulbs in a condition for summer flowering. 
C. pedunculata.—Decidedly the best of the species 
for the garden; its flowers are produced solitary, but in 
