Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 



189 



they will require shifting into 4-inch pots ; 

 uge the soil without sifting, and treat them 

 as has just been recommended. When they 

 bloom the best kinds ought to be marked 

 for propagation and the inferior ones dis- 

 carded. 



After the flowering is over give less 

 water, discontinue shading, and admit 

 more air, so as to ripen the growth. When 

 the leaves have died down the soil should 

 be allowed to become quite dry ; keep 

 them through the winter in a tempera- 

 ture of 50°: it is not safe to keep them 

 cooler than this for any length of time. 

 They generally winter best when the bulbs 

 are allowed to remain in the soil and pots 

 in which they have been grown, but as they 

 Ijecome large, and are in pots of a consider- 

 able size, this is not always convenient ; in 

 that case the roots should be stored in 

 paper bags filled with dry sand to preserve 

 them from the air, otherwise they shrivel, 

 and thereby receive serious injury. 



To give a succession of flowers through 

 the summer a portion of the jilants may 

 be started about the middle of February, 

 and a further supply in March. Let the 

 pots be proportionate to the size of the 

 tubers— about 7 inclies in dianieter will be 

 large enough for the second season. In 

 potting just leave the crowns of the tubers 

 on a level with the surface of the soil, and 

 immediately they are potted, place them 

 in a temperature of 60° at night, allowing 

 it to become 5° or 10° warmer by day ; if 

 not put in heat as soon as potted, the roots 

 will rot. The soil ought to be in a slightly 

 moist state when used, and little water 

 should be given until growth has com- 

 menced. Treat them thi'oughout the 

 season as to heat, shade, light, and mois- 

 ture as recommended for the preceding 

 summer. As already pointed out, their 

 satisfactory flowering will depend upon 

 their receiving abundance of light ; a shelf 

 over a pathway within a few inches of the 

 roof is the best place for them. Ii such a 

 situation not only do they get the requisite 

 amount of light, but they also receive more 

 air, and both are essential for securing 

 short, sturdy growth. This summer they 

 will bloom well and their tubers will in- 

 crease considerably in size, yet it is in the 

 third and fourth years after sowing that 

 they will make the finest display. When 

 the tubers get large they may be divided, 

 some of the buds with which the crown is 

 furnished being retained to each portion ; 

 but the most general method of jjropa- 

 gation and by far the most expeditious is 

 by leaf cuttings. 



If the leaves are taken off in summer 

 when fully matured, with a portion of the 



stalks attached to them, and this portion, 

 is inserted in 4-inch or 5-inch pots, drained 

 and filled with half peat or loam and sand, 

 with half an inch of sand on the top, and 

 kept in a brisk heat, slightly shaded and 

 moist, they will form healthy bulbs before 

 autumn. If the variety to be increased is 

 scarce, several may be produced from single 

 leaves by cutting the midrib through on 

 the under side in four or five places. Then 

 lay the leaves flat on the soil in pots or 

 pans prepared as above ; over each place 

 where the midrib has been severed secure 

 the cut parts to the soil with a pebble 

 about the size of a cockle, and at these 

 points small tubers will be formed which, 

 when the leaves have decayed in the 

 autumn, will require to be wintered and 

 afterwards groAvn on in every way as re- 

 commended for the plants raised from seed. 

 The following named varieties are all 

 well worth growing : — 



ERECT FLOWERING KINDS. 



G. A. Haul. Blue spotted on a white 

 zone. 



A. Alfred de Musset. Bright red, striped 

 with lilac. 



G. Byron. White, amaranth lobes. 



G. Chateaubriand. White lobes, throat 

 delicate rose. 



G. Don Luis of Portugal. , White tube, 

 throat spotted carmine, zone violet, white 

 limb. 



G. Duke of Edinburgh. Tube white, 

 throat deep violet, shaded with maroon. 



G. James Brand. Throat creamy yellow, 

 spotted Avith violet, lobes violet. 



G. Magenta Queen. Tube deep red, base 

 of limb deep crimson, edged with magenta. 



G. Mr. Thomas Binney. Red throat, 

 limb crimson. 



G. Panthere. Blue, spotted with white, 

 throat white and massive. 



G. Scarlet Gem. White tube, throat spotted 

 with lilac, limb deej) scarlet. 



G. The Czar. Tube white, limb purplish- 

 violet. 



PENDENT VARIETIES. 



G. Alice. Limb mauve, throat yellow. 



G. Angeline. Tube rose, barred with 

 white. 



G. Bird of Paradise. Lilac throat, white 

 spotted. 



G. delicata. Outside of tube white, in- 

 side violet, base of lobes margined with 

 white. 



G. Eblotiissant. Bright red, throat white. 



G. Grand Monarch. Tube white, throat 

 violet, spotted with white, limb deep 



