374 The Canadian Horticulturist. 



SOME WINTER-FLOWERING PLANTS. 



REESIAS, lachenalias, ixias, etc., when done blooming, are 

 allowed to ripen off. We keep them in their pots in a cool, dry 

 place till September, when they are re-potted ; but those not 

 wanted early are kept dry till the cold weather comes, so as not to 

 start them into growth. We separate the bulbs of the freesias, 

 planting six of the larger ones in a 5-inch pot ; the smaller ones are planted in 

 flats, giving some blooms and making large bulbs for next year. We bring 

 them into the greenhouse from the frames successively. The freesias is one of 

 our most important winter flowering plants. 



Callas. — We grow them in pots and let them rest from the middle of May 

 till the middle of August, when we shake them out of the old soil and put 

 them into 5-inch pots; and about the middle of October shift them into 

 8-inch ones. Water them liberally with liquid manure all the winter. We 

 get plenty of blooms from them all the winter and up to the middle of 

 May. 



Cyclamen. — For the amateur who does not grow these in quantity, two- 

 year old plants will give better results than younger ones. We had some 

 two-year old plants last winter, in 5-inch pots, with thirty and thirty-seven 

 blooms open on them at the same time. Plunge the pots in a shady place 

 during the summer, giving no water, only such as they receive from the 

 rain. In September re-pot them, shaking off the old soil and using the 

 same sized pots ; plunge them in some light material, such as leaf mould, 

 in a frame, keeping the sash on, and allowing very little ventilation, and 

 shade them during the hot part of the day. Put the leaf mould well up 

 around and in the pots, only leaving the crown of the corm or bulb exposed ; 

 this is to " soften the bulb." Early in October bring them into their winter 

 quarters and place them on a shelf near the glass. — Vick's. 



Planting^ Lilies. — The lily bed should be prepared early this month. 

 Lily bulbs take but little rest, and commence their next year's work almost as 

 soon as they complete this. I have just made a permanent bed by digging out 

 the surface soil to the depth of a foot, the bed being 8x10. In the bottom I 

 put well-rotted manure to the depth of three inches, which was forked in with 

 six inches of the soil below. Then I replaced the soil thrown out, and into it 

 planted the bulbs. They were placed in groups of five bulbs each, two feet 

 apart, the bulbs six inches apart in the clumps, which gives four clumps each of 

 the different varieties planted. The varieties are so scattered that each sort has 

 four places in the bed, which makes the whole very showy the entire season. 

 This is an excellent way of growing lilies where one has plenty of room to be 

 devoted to this purpose, and where the lily is made a specialty. — Am. Agric. 



