96 THE BOOK OF BULBS 



liquid manure. They can be grown from seeds or by 

 division of the stems. Perhaps the following are as 

 good as any in cultivation : 



B. Carderi, which has handsome rose-coloured flowers 

 spotted with brown ; oligantha, red and yellow ; Shuttle- 

 worthi, vermilion, yellow, red, and green. Edulis has 

 been longest grown, and has rose flowers tipped with 

 green ; the hardiest species is probably B. salsilla, with 

 purple and green flowers. This is hardy in a few 

 districts when other conditions are favourable. 



CALADIUMS 



Caladiums are among the most useful of stove peren- 

 nial plants, and their adaptability to growing for table 

 and room decoration adds much to their general value. 

 The beauty of form and the fine colouring of their 

 foliage place them high in the ranks of stove plants. 

 A capital compost is made of turfy loam, turfy peat, 

 and leaf-soil in equal parts, with a little well-rotted 

 manure and some sharp sand. In March or earlier, if 

 they have been long at rest, the tubers are started into 

 growth in a temperature of not less than 60 degrees ; 

 when they have made growth, they may be placed in 

 five or six inch pots, and the supply of water gradu- 

 ally increased until it is given freely, with alternate 

 waterings of some liquid manure. They should be 

 kept growing in a high temperature, and then hardened- 

 off in a cooler part of the building preparatory to their 

 removal to the conservatory. When the leaves begin 

 to grow yellow, gradually decrease the water supply, 

 and store for the winter in a temperature of not less than 

 sixty degrees. Do not allow them to become entirely 

 dry. A large number of hybrid Caladiums have been 

 raised, and these, which will be found in the catalogues 

 of leading nurserymen, have almost driven the original 

 species out of cultivation. 



