840 



PRACTICE OF GARDENING. 



Part III. 



seldom flower the first year after separation, should not be planted with the full-grown 

 roots, but in a bed of light loamy soil by themselves in the reserve-garden. They should 

 not be planted later than the beginning of September. 



6 l >98 By seed. Miller directs -to sow in flat pans, filled with fresh, light, sandy earth, about the be- 

 p inning of August, soon after the seed is ripe ; to place the pans where they wdl receive only the morn- 

 ing sun till October. Then expose them to the full sun, and protect them from heavy rains and frosts 

 till April when they will have come up, and must be removed to their first situation. In June, the 

 leaves wiii have decayed, when some fresh earth is to be shifted over the surface of the pans. Treat 

 them in other respects during the second winter as during the first. The end of the second summer 

 after sowing, the roots are to be taken up and planted at about three inches' distance every way, in beds 

 raised and rounded to throw off the water. These beds are to be protected in winter by old tan-ashes 

 or haulm. After remaining two years in this situation, they are to be taken up and planted in others, 

 dug deep, and with a little rotten cow-dung buried in the bottom of the fibres to strike into. Here the 

 roots are to be planted at six inches' distance, having earth sifted over them when the leaves decay, and 

 tan or ashes in winter. The second season of their growth in this bed, that is, the fifth from sowing, 

 most of the bulbs will come into flower. Such as are esteemed good flowers may be taken up and treated 

 as full-grown bulbs ; but those which have not flowered, or of which the flowers are of doubtful excel- 

 lence, may remain another year. Miller says, none should be rejected till they have flowered two or 

 three times : as it often happens, that their first blowing is not near so beautiful as their second and 



6299. Choice of full-grown bulbs. Select such as are rounded towards the base rather than compressed, 

 with full sound tops, and bottoms free from mouldiness or decayed fibres. 



6300 Soil, situation, and planting. As eastern aspect is to be preferred ; and, according to Miller, the 

 best soil is fresh, light, hazel loam, mixed with a little very rotten cow-dung. The bed in which they 

 are to be planted must be excavated three feet deep, and filled with this compost, and then the roots 

 planted on it about eight inches' distance everv way, and covered from six to eight inches, in the man- 

 ner directed for tulips. The best time for planting is August, or the beginning of September. 



6301 Culture. Stirring the soil, weeding, and watering are all that is in general required : bat such 

 as wish to produce a very perfect show of flowers, shelter with an awning in the manner recommended 

 for hyacinths In winter, the beds require the protection of tan or litter, which should be put on in 

 October or November, and removed, and the soil stirred in February or March. Where the narcissi 

 are cultivated for commercial purposes, the strength of the bulb is greatly increased bv cutting off the 

 flower-stem when the flowers begin to expand The flower is still valuable, being expanded till in a 

 marketable state by inserting the stalk in water. " Some years ago I gained admittance into the grounds 

 of Daniel Carter, at Fulhain, who has long cultivated large quantities of polyanthus narcissuses for sale, 

 and was surprised to find all the crop nearly gathered, though very early in the season. His son, how- 

 ever explained the mystery, by taking me into a large barn, which was filled with the gathered flowers, 

 blow'ing in pans of water ; and he told me that by doing this, the bulbs continued to produce as abund- 

 ant' crops every year, as new ones imported from Holland. The practice was suggested to him by re- 

 marking, that ia a bed left for seed one year, very few roots sent up a complete bunch of flowers the 

 following season, and manv roots none at alL He therefore now cuts off the stalk close to the ground, 

 as soon as two or three of the flowers are expanded, but is very careful not to injure the leaves." (Hort. 

 Trans i. 362 ) 



6302 Taking up the bulbs. The bulbs should not be taken up oftener than every third year, if they are 

 expected to flower strong and make a great increase. If they remain longer than three years, the offsets 

 will become so numerous as to weaken the bulbs, which will at first flower weakly, and in time cease al- 

 most entirely to show flowers. The Dutch take up these roots every year, because their object is to fur- 

 nish a round plump root, and the way to accomplish this is to take off the offsets annually, to prevent 

 their pressing against and flattening the parent bulb. The bulbs being dried in the shade, may be laid in 

 an airy situation in the seed-loft till wanted for planting. . 



6303 Forcing. These bulbs force well, and either in deep pots of sandy loam, or in water-glasses ; their 

 previous treatment is the same as we have prescribed for the hyacinth ; and they are highly odoriferous 

 and ornamental in apartments., 



SuBstCT. 7. Iris. — Iris, L. Trian. Monog. L. and Iridece, B. P. L'Iris, Fr. ; 

 Schwertlilie, Ger. ; and Iride, Ital. (Jigs. 600, 601.) 



6304. There are several species of iris which are considered florists' flowers. 



The Persian iris (/. Persica) {Bot. Mag., 

 and our.fe. 600. u) ; a very low bulbous 

 rooted plant, with delicate blue and 

 violet-colored flowers, greatly esteem- 

 ed for their beauty and sweet smell, 

 which is so powerful that one plant 

 will scent a whole room. It is a nativ« 

 of Persia, and was cultivated by Par- 

 kinson in 1623. the bulbs are ge- 



nerally imported from Holland, and 

 blow in water -.glasses, or pots of sand 

 with very little earth intermixed, in 

 February and .March. 

 The snake's-head iris (/. luberosa) {Bot. 

 Mag. 531. and Jig.GOd-b) has long 

 narrow four-cornered leaves, and a dark 



?urple flower, which appears in April, 

 t is a native of the Levant, and wa* 



cultivated in 1597- The tubers are 

 generally imported from Holland. 

 The Chalcedonian iris (/. sitsiana) {Bot. 

 Mag. 91- and fg. 600. c) has finely 

 striated leaves, a scape a span high, 

 and the largest and most magnificent 

 corolla of all the species. Its petals 

 are of a delicate texture, almost as 

 broad as a hand, purple or black, 



