THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 299 
number of fine foliage plants with which they were associated. 
The Vallotas were indeed so effective, that managers of societies 
whose exhibitions are held in the autumn, would certainly act with 
wisdom were they to provide a class specially for them—say for the 
best two or the best four specimens. 
It is not necessary for cultivators who do not compete for prizes 
to have specimens so large as those shown at Dundee; but they 
ought certainly to have plants considerably larger than those com- 
mon in gardens. Those in nine and ten-inch pots, with from four 
to six stout scapes, are perhaps the most useful for the general body 
of cultivators. To produce samples such as these is not a very 
serious task, for the Vallota is rather accommodating. It is repre- 
sented by some writers to be hardy, but it is not so, and any attempt 
to grow it out-of-doors will assuredly end in failure. It is, strictly 
speaking, a greenhouse plant, and must, from the end of September 
until the end of May following, be kept in a house or pit from 
which the frost is excluded. Some writers also recommend its 
being dried off in the same manner as cther amaryilids; but this 
also is a mistake, for it is a true evergreen, and the only way to 
maintain the plants in the most perfect health is to supply them 
liberally with water when they are growing freely, and to maintain 
the soil in a moderately moist state when at rest. 
To form specimens quickly, strong bulbs, well established in 
five-inch pots, should be obtained now, and in February next 
be put into nine or ten-inch pots, at the rate of from three to five 
bulbs in each. Bulbs that have been dried off, shaken out of the 
soil, and laid several weeks in the drawers of the seedsmen, are 
not so good as those well established in pots, for they cannot be 
subjected to the drying process without suffering considerable 
injury. Composts of a complex character are not desirable, for the 
vallota requires a soil capable of affording it substantial support, 
and there is nothing better than a mixture consisting of sound 
turfy loam three parts, and well rotted manure one part. In putting 
several small plants into one pot, it will be necessary to reduce the 
ball of soil, but this reduction should be made with as little injury 
to the roots as possible. The pots must, as a matter of course, 
be efficiently drained, and the soil pressed firmly throughout, so 
that the water cannot sink away more quickly on one side of the 
pot than on the other. 
In subsequent years an annual shift will suffice, and this should 
be into pots one size larger than those previously occupied. Some 
time in February or March is the best time for the annual repotting. 
From the moment the plants commence to grow freely until the 
end of May, when they may be placed out-of-doors, they should have 
a light position, and be within a moderate distance of the glass. 
A rather shady position should be selected for their summer 
quarters, and a bed of ashes be provided for the pots to stand upon. 
The necessity for abundant supplies of water has been already 
adverted to, and it only now remains to be said that when the plants 
are coming into bloom, the pots may with advantage be placed 
during the day in pans containing about an inch of water. This is 
October. 
