296 On the Management of Oxalis Bowiei. 



composed of about two thirds turfy loam and one third leaf mould, 

 "with a quantity of sand equal to about one third of the whole. 

 If leaf soil is not at hand, make use of light sandy loam, with a 

 small portion of decomposed manure of any kind, or healh soil. 

 They will flourish in each, but the finest flowers are produced 

 on those plants potted in the first named compost. We have 

 generally made use of No. 4 pots, placing six or eight flowering 

 bulbs ill each, or from ten to twenty offsetts, according to their 

 size: eight is a sufficiency if the bulbs are large and strong. 

 Place them about a quarter or haif an inch below the surface of 

 the soil, in a careful manner; and, after they are covered with 

 the compost, finish with a light watering. Give a good drainage 

 with broken potsherds; for although they delight in a good quan- 

 tity of moisture when in full growth and in bloom, they do not 

 like it in the earlier stages of their growth, and, in particular, 

 around the bottom of the roots. 



The plants may be placed in the open air until October, but if 

 there is a green-house or frame near by, they would do better 

 to be placed in one or the other. Give them plenty of light and 

 air, and but slight quantities of water at first, until they show 

 signs of considerable vigor; they may then be watered more 

 freely. They will soon show buds; and, if the plants do well, 

 will begin to bloom about the middle or latter part of Septem- 

 ber. If in the green-house, let them stand on the front shelves, 

 or in some situation where they can get an abundance of air and 

 light, or the flower-stems will be weak and the blooms faint. Here 

 they may remain until their period of blooming is over, which is 

 usually at the end of ten or twelve weeks: after that time the 

 plants should receive less water, and it should be so gradually 

 withheld that in the month of INIarch it may be dispensed with 

 altogether. The pots may then be removed under the stage, in 

 the back shed, or to a shelf in a dry cellar until June, when they 

 may be placed in a shady situation in the open air, turning the 

 pots upon their sides, so that the bulbs shall not receive too much 

 moisture from heavy rains. Here they may remain till the plant- 

 ing season again returns. The ofisetts should be managed in the 

 same manner as the flowering roots, with the exception that they 

 need not receive so airy a situation in the green-house unless 

 there is plenty of room, as the plants alone will not be of much 

 beauty without any flowers. Offsetts will generally make good 

 roots for another year, without any particular pains, otherwise 

 than the use of a good compost. 



The bulbs may be easily made to produce a succession of 

 flowers, by delaying the planting of the roots. Last October 

 we had plants in bloom, and there was scarcely a week, from 

 that time until May, but what we had several pots of plants in 



