CULTIVATION 33 



a deadly enemy. Planting is best done in spring, say 

 in April, but certainly not in autumn. Division is not 

 a satisfactory method of increase, but good results may 

 be got from imported clumps. Seedlings are raised 

 easily, and flower the third year. If the seeds can be 

 sown where the plants are to remain, that plan should 

 be tried, as it "often leads to greater success than is 

 possible in any other way. A sowing should also be 

 made in pans or boxes, the seedlings being pricked out 

 in beds or in other pans or boxes with as little injury as 

 possible to the roots. Much depends on circumstances, 

 but the advantage of a frame for the early stages is 

 likely to be considerable. In the Cambridge Botanic 

 Garden, where the plant cannot succeed well, owing to 

 lime in the soil and water, I have had fine flowers 

 by planting in the bog garden on mounds above the 

 water, but the plants invariably die after two or three 

 years. I keep and flower the plant in sunk tubs, arti- 

 ficially watered, but here the roots are too restricted, 

 and development is limited. Nicholson says in his 

 Dictionary that it succeeds admirably when cultivated in 

 pans, standing in about two inches of water. I have 

 never known injury from frost, but a Continental writer 

 recommends protection with dry leaves or litter during 

 severe weather. 



C. ONCOCYCLUS IRISES. 



No one has had greater success in growing these 

 Irises than Sir Michael Foster, and his prescription, 

 summed up in a few words, is simply this cover with 

 glass as soon as flowers are over and keep dry until 

 autumn ; then as soon as growth commences expose to 

 weather. Proper soil and drainage must of course be 

 understood. Good drainage is essential, and the next 

 necessity is a good depth of gritty, loamy soil, in good 

 heart, but without manure. Roadside scrapings have 



