Book II. IXIiE AND GLADIOLI, TUBEROSE. 84S 



afforded two offsets. These were put, in the 6pring of 1818, into pots, containing about one eighth of a 

 square foot of light and rich mould, and were fed with manured water, and their period of vegetation 

 was again accelerated by artificial heat. Their leaves, consequently, grew yellow from maturity, early 

 in the present spring, when the pots were placed in rather a shady situation, and near a north wall, to 

 afford me an opportunity of observing to what extent, in such a situation, the early production of the leaves 

 in the preceding seasons had changed the habit of the plant. I entertained no doubt but that both the 

 bulbs would afford blossoms, but I was much gratified by the appearance of the blossoms in the first week 

 in July. From the success of the preceding experiment, I conclude that if the offsets, and probably the 

 bulbs of this plant which have produced flowers, be placed in a moderate hot-bed, in the end of May, to 

 occasion the early production of their leaves, blossoms would be constantly afforded in the following sea- 

 son : but it will be expedient to habituate the leaves, thus produced, gradually to the open air, as soon 

 as they are nearly fully grown, and to protect them from frost till the approach of spring." 



6316. TIte Rev. W. Williamson has adopted the same rationale as Knight; and, with the aid of a glass 

 frame, without artificial heat, brought bulbs which had flowered into a state to flower again after two 

 winters. Had he applied artificial heat, he thinks one winter might probably have been sufficient 

 {Hort. Trans, iii. 450.) 



6317. The Hon. and Rev. W. Herbert has found a similar treatment attended with corresponding suc- 

 cess. He says, " the only attention which the Guernsey lily requires here (Spofforth, Yorkshire), is to 

 give it sufficient air while the leaves are growing, that they may be strong and dark-colored ; to protect 

 the leaves from frost, keeping the pots near the light, if under glass ; to give a moderate and regular 

 supply of water, and to leave the bulbs nearly dry, from the time the leaves decay, that is, about mid- 

 summer, at latest, to the end of August, when the flower-buds should appear. If the bulbs are not left 

 dry early in the summer, the autumnal shoot will be delayed till the season becomes too cold for the 

 proper growth of the flowers or leaves, and the natural course and vigor of the plant will be interrupted, 

 after which it will require at least a year to repair the injury it will have received. Whenever the 

 sprouting of the bulb is tardy, it should be assisted by placing it, for a short time, in a warmer situation. 

 If the stigma does not expand so as to become, after a few days, trifid, it is a sign that the temperature is 

 rather too low to suit the plant, and the leaves will probably not push freely without more heat. I have 

 obtained seed from the Guernsey lily by procuring the blossom early in an airy situation." The soil Her- 

 bert recommendsds a good yellow loam, without any manure ; but he thinks " they will thrive in any 

 wholesome compost, which does not canker their buibs. They should be planted partly above ground, for 

 the wet earth round their necks will prevent their flowering or thriving, and will even sometimes destroy 

 them." (Hort. Trans, iv. 177.) The same treatment, with very few exceptions, he adds, suits the whole 

 of the bulbs included under amaryllis, as well as a number of other allied genera, as ha^manthus, pan- 

 cratium, agapanthus, &c. Some species of these genera, as Amaryllis longifolia, W. and Crinum Asiati- 

 cum, Rox., are natives of dry ditches that communicate at certain seasons with the water of the rivers in 

 Bengal, where they root deeply in the mud. These species, and some others, Herbert found to succeed 

 perfectly when plunged during summer in a pond. " Most of the crinums," he says, " are swamp plants, 

 or grow in river-mud, and should be cultivated in our stoves, with a pan of water under them, the bulbs 

 being raised above the earth, and stripped of all dead integuments. Agapanthus unibellatus flowers best 

 when so treated ; the Amaryllis longifolia (which, he says, should be named Crinum capense) will," he 

 has no doubt, " flower as a hardy aquatic, if planted in any pond or river of two feet water, not liable to 

 freeze at the bottom." {Hort. Trans, iii. 188.) 



6318. Some account of the culture of the Guernsey lily in the Island of Guernsey is given by Dr. Maccul- 

 loch (Caled. Mem. ii. 62.) : there they grow it in the open air, and protect it with sand during winter. 



Subsect. 11. Ixub and Gladioli, W. Trian. Monog. L. and Iridece, B. P. 



6319. The ixite and gladioli include a number of recently formed genera (see Bot. 

 Mag. and Bot. Reg.) of Cape bulbs, which may be flowered in the open air, tinder 

 frames without bottom heat, or on shelves near the glass in green-houses. The Hon. 

 W. Herbert, who has paid great attention to the culture of bulbs, is " persuaded that 

 the African gladioli will become great favorites with florists, when their beauty in the 

 open border, the facility of their culture, and the endless variety which may be produced 

 from seed by blending the several species, are fully known, nor will they be found to 

 yield in beauty to the tulip and ranunculus." (Hort. Trans, iv. 154.) 



6320. Propagation and culture. They may either be propagated by seed or offset-bulbs ; by the former 

 mode, Herbert has produced numerous beautiful varieties. The proper soil for these and similar bulbs is 

 peat with sand : and in a bed of this compost the seeds should be sown in spring, and well watered before 

 and after they come up. " At the beginning of October, or as soon as the leaves wither, the young bulbs 

 should be taken up and dried ; they may be replanted again at any time, placing them about eight inches 

 under ground, to prevent the frost reaching them. Next year they will generally flower." The best way 

 of treating gladioli which are to be flowered in pots is, whenever the bulbs are potted, to plunge the pots 

 about eight inches under ground in a bed of peat, and raise them nearer the surface in spring, as soon 

 as the very severe frosts are over ; or not to plunge them so deep, and protect them with moss, leaves, 

 rotten tan, &c. 



6321. Various other bulbous iridece, and also oxalis, lachenalia, cyclamen, &c. may be successfully treated 

 in a similar manner. (Herbert, in Hort. Trans. ; Maddock, in Flor. Dir.) 



Subsect. 12, Tuberose. — Polianthes Tuberosa, L. (Bot. Reg. 63.) Hex. Mono". L. 

 and Hemerocallidece, B. P. Tuberose, Fr. and Ger ; and Tuberoso, Ital. 



6322. Tlie tuberose is a bulbous-rooted plant, with linear leaves of a whitish green, and 

 stems four or five feet high, terminating in a sparse spike of white flowers, of very 

 powerful fragrance. It is a native of India, whence it was first brought to Europe about 

 1524, and to England in 1629. It is generally cultivated in frames or the green-house, 

 but in warm situations will flower in the open air. The tubers of this plant are an- 

 nually imported from the warm provinces of North America and Italy, but, like those 

 of the Guernsey lily, might, by proper treatment, as Salisbury has proved, be produced 

 in this country equally fit for flowering. There is a double variety, which is in most es- 

 teem, but both are equally fragrant. 



6323. General treatment. The bulbs are planted in pots of sandy loam in March or 

 April, and brought forward in a hot-bed or hot-house till the flower-buds begin to ap- 



