6 



S6 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



As the season for planting most of them is arrived, a few hints 

 on the best species and their treatment may prove useful. 



They are usually grown in beds ; and this arrangement affords 

 great facilities for protecting them in severe weather, the majority 

 being too tender to endure full exposure during frost. There is little 

 or no danger, however, to be apprehended when the bulbs are not 

 planted till February or March ; and in that case, the question of 

 beds or clumps may be left to the taste and convenience of the 

 amateur. 



The question of soil is more important; it may, indeed be 

 termed the chief point on which their successful cultivation hinges. 

 They will not do well in poor, sandy soils, which afford them too 

 little nourishment, aod stunt their growth ; neither will they succeed 

 in the strong, tenacious loams so peculiar to many districts ; and 

 even peat, in which they are so often grown, is less desirable than a 

 compost in which it forms but one ingredient. By far the best 

 results are obtained in a mixture of white sand, good fibrous loam, 

 and turfy peat, in about equal proportions. In such a compost, the 

 whole of the Cape Irids will flourish, whether in the open borders 

 or in pots. The ingredients should be well chopped together, and 

 mingled with the hands, but not sifted, as this would remove the 

 fibrous portion, the presence of which is essential to the porosity of 

 the whole. AA r hen the peat and white sand cannot be procured, a 

 mixture of decayed leaf-mould and sandy loam may be used as a 

 substitute ; but leaf-mould is so generally infested with insects, that 

 it cannot be recommended for this purpose. Any nurseryman will 

 supply a sufficient quantity of all three ingredients for a small sum. 



When the bulbs are grown in clumps in a mixed border, the soil 

 should be removed to a depth of from twelve to sixteen inches. 

 At the bottom of the cavity thus formed, three or four inches of 

 broken sherds must be placed as drainage, and the remaining space 

 may then be filled with compost, of peat, loam, and sand. The 

 larger bulbs should be planted from four to six inches, and the 

 smaller ones about three inches deep. Single bulbs, especially of the 

 smaller species, produce so little effect, that they should always be 

 planted in patches of at least three bulbs of each kind. In severe 

 weather, and also iu very heavy rains, it will be advisable to cover 

 each patch over, even before the leaves appear, with an empty pot. 



When grown in a bed, the entire surface may easily be covered 

 with furze, and in the case of bulbs planted in spring, this will afford 

 them all the protection they are likely to require. 



As they progress in spring, the only further attention they will 

 need will be an occasional watering in dry weather ; and the little 

 trouble entailed in the preparation of a proper compost, will be 

 amply rewarded by the greater vigour of the plants, and the superior 

 character of the flowers. 



But that none may be deterred from the culture of these interest- 

 ing plants, we would add, that in almost any good garden soil, of not 

 too heavy and moist a nature, they will succeed, and even in the case 

 of soils of the most adverse character, a single barrowful of the peat 

 and loam would suffice for ten or twelve good clumps of bulbs. 



