

38 THE BOOK OF THE IRIS 



ij in. below the surface in a light, loamy, but thoroughly 

 iuell drained soil, into which plenty of bone meal has 

 been worked (5 Ibs. to the square yard) ; cover with 

 three or four inches of wheat straw, or better still, with 

 marsh reeds, or cut heather, which remove in March. 

 Immediately the plants have done flowering place over 

 them a light, or panes of glass elevated eighteen inches 

 above the ground, so as to admit at the sides a free 

 entry of air, and at the same time to keep off rain till 

 October. The object desired is to thoroughly ripen the 

 roots, and to prevent their starting into growth too 

 early. The covering in winter is to keep off heavy rains 

 and to discourage a premature growth. The Onco- 

 cyclus Irises like to remain undisturbed for years ; they 

 may, however, be lifted four or five weeks after flower- 

 ing and stored on a dry, sunny shelf, in perfectly dry 

 sand, till December. 



Mr Amos Perry, whose experience goes back for 

 many years, says of these Irises that there are no two 

 alike in their requirements. He thinks the borders in 

 front of the Cambridge houses, facing south, an ideal 

 position, and certainly some fine flowers have been pro- 

 duced there. He would plant on slightly raised ground 

 and protect during inclement weather in early spring. 



Sir Michael Foster has somewhere written that as 

 these plants produce seed so freely in a state of nature, 

 he infers their frequent reproduction from seed. They 

 are naturally short-lived plants, very probably, and 

 herein, with the suggestion of raising from seed, there 

 is perhaps a valuable hint. At present these plants are 

 almost exclusively grown from imported rhizomes, and I 

 may point out that to the great majority of growers it 

 makes a very great difference whether they are of good, 

 strong quality, or the reverse. Mr Hoog finds that 

 raising from seed is slow but sure. 



