CRiNUM — HYMENOCALLis. Greeuliouse and Stove Plants. 



12? 



a. Candida. A summer flowering kind. 

 From the Cape of Good Hope. 



C. spathulata. Flowei's 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 

 suflice for the last-named division of 

 Amaryllids, only there is this that must 

 not be lost sight of in the management of 

 the several sj^ecies 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 whicli the resi^ective 

 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 aie 

 at hand during the later months of tlie 

 year, prepare a large seed-pan, drain and 

 fill it with sifted loam, to which axld 

 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 moistui^e, 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 r.sed 

 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 

 daih^, 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 lieat 

 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 ftvr 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. Throiigh 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, alter 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 lurtlier difl'erence, 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, wall 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 wdien the off- 

 sets have gained considerable strength to 

 take them off and grow" them separately ; 

 this is best done in S2:)ring just before 

 growth commences. The treatment of the 

 divided j)lants will require to be in every 

 way similar to that advised for the seed- 

 lings. Like most other bulbous plants of 

 a kindred nature, thev do not like laryei' 



