226 



Each plant should be supported by a stick or rod, and 

 neatly tied with bass strings, so that it may retain a 

 perpendicular position ; the leaves should not be mutilated 

 or cut. In cultivating these varieties and all other bulb- 

 ous plants, the fact must never be lost sight of, that the 

 bulb is, during the summer, a species of underground con- 

 tinuation of the leaf, while in the winter it is analogous to 

 the bud of a plant ; therefore any injury to the leaves, 

 during their growth in summer and autumn, is an injury to 

 the bulb. When the leaves have performed their functions 

 of preparing and elaborating the juices for this subterra- 

 nean bud or bulb, they die away naturally; leaves of 

 bulbous plants should therefore never be trimmed or cut 

 off, with a view of making them look more sightly, unless 

 they have turned brown. On the other hand, forming and 

 ripening the seed, withdraws considerable nourishment 

 from the bulb ; it is, therefore, rather a benefit than an in- 

 jury to cut the flower, and prevent the seed from coming 

 to maturity ; the juices are then diverted from this opera- 

 tion to that of increasing and improving the bulb. These 

 hybrids will commence showing their flowers about the 

 first of August, and continue to bloom until near the mid- 

 dle of September, depending somewhat upon the time 

 they were planted. If planted before the last of May, 

 the flowers will appear in the strongest heat of the sum- 

 mer, and therefore be more liable to be burnt by the sun. 

 An awning erected over the bed, the same as practiced by 

 florists for Tulips and other flowers, will preserve the col- 

 ors and bloom much longer. About the first of Novem- 

 ber, I take up the bulbs in the morning of a pleasant day 

 and leave them on the ground, exposed to the sun through 

 the day, leaving the leaves on; I then take them into a 

 dry airy room, where there is no danger of frost, and 

 spread them on the floor or on benches, and let them 

 dry. As soon as they appear to be cured, the tops are 



