156 The Flower Garden [Chapter 



Crinum ornatum must have a generous supply of 

 roots to sustain it; that these roots must have time 

 to grow, commensurate with the length of time the 

 bulb has been out of the ground, and that not much 

 could be expected of it until these conditions were ful- 

 filled. These facts are obvious from a study of the 

 dry bulb, other facts are only arrived at after expe- 

 rience with the Crinum as a plant. 



The root growth is quite in keeping with the size 

 of the bulb; it forms great quantities of fleshy white 

 roots as thick as pipe-stems, which are very impatient 

 of disturbance and should be left practically unmo- 

 lested for a number of years. When a bulb is pre- 

 pared for market these roots are all removed. It is 

 not strange that when called upon to rally from the 

 shock of dismemberment and to replace the entire 

 root growth it should sometimes fail to bloom as 

 readily as expected. Often only a portion of the 

 former roots start again, and this must be taken into 

 consideration when anticipating bloom. 



When a dry bulb is received from the florist it 

 should be potted at once in a pot two inches larger in 

 diameter than the bulb, that is, one allowing one 

 inch of space between the pot and the bulb all around. 

 Good potting soil, loam, leaf-mould, or muck, good 

 sharp sand and old, well-rotted manure should be 

 used. I do not think the muck absolutely essential, 

 except in the case of C. Americana, which may be 

 grown in pure muck, but good fibrous loam and sharp 



