‘ 
298 CULTURE OF MOSSES AND LICHENS. 
not yet ‘sported, as the sporting habit might become fixed; and this 
should be carefully guarded against, by propagating from those roots 
that show the fullest flowers. The double China Asters, Feverfew, 
Rockets, Daisies, &c., come double in the same way as Dahlias. The 
double Snapdragon is similar to the Stock, Campanula, Cistus, the 
Thorn, and most other double flowers, are similar to the Rose. Thus, 
by attention, have many of our English plants been induced to produce 
double flowers, aud so, no doubt, would be the result with others, both 
domestic and foreign, if attention was duly paid to the subject. 
CULTURE OF IXIAS, GLADIOLUSES, ANTHOLYZAS, 
WATSONIAS, AND LACHENALIAS. 
BY FLORA, 
Havine cultivated Ixias, Gladioluses, Antholyzas, Watsonias, and 
Lachenalias with the greatest success, under the following mode of 
management, it is with much pleasure I forward them to you for in- 
sertion in your Magazine. 
All the above, and many other bulbous plants included under the 
natural order Iridex, I have found to thrive best when planted in the 
open border, in a mixture of very light sandy soil and decayed leaves, 
and if this cannot be obtained conveniently, a little peat soil should be 
used as a substitute; the border should be close under a south wall. 
I usually plant them six or eight inches deep, so that no ordinary frost 
can injure them ; I cover the bed all over with dry litter; this entirely 
prevents the strong frosts from injuring the roots, and it likewise keeps 
a great deal of wet from them, which is very liable to rot the roots, an 
excess of which would damage them. They are readily increased by 
offsets from the bulbs, which I generally take up at the end of Sep- 
tember, and separate them; when this is done, I again plant them. 
By this treatment they will flower much stronger than if grown in pots. 
I have, however, cultivated Ixias with success, in pots kept in a green- 
house, in the following manner :-— 
In May, when the leaves are dead, I turn all my bulbs out of the 
pots in which they have grown, and clean the bulbs. I then place 
them in partitioned drawers until October, when I repot them, putting 
four bulbs in each small pot; I use 30’s. The soil I use is a mixture 
of equal parts of loam and peat. I place them ina cold frame until 
the foliage appears, and then remove them into the greenhouse. As the 
plants advance in growth, and the roots appear through the bottoms of 
the pots, I remove them into larger-sized pots, repeating*it if required 
until the blossoms appear. JI use liquid manure water, at all times, to 
the plants. Antholyzas, Watsonias, Lachenalias, Sparaxises, and 
Tritonias, flourish under the same mode of cultivation. 
CULTURE OF MOSSES AND LICHENS. 
A PAPER on this interesting subject by Mr. James Donald was read 
before a late mecting of the Regent’s Park Gardeners’ Society, of which 
