3TO THE PLEASURE, OB [APRIL 



about a quarter of an inch deep. Immediately plunge the pots to 

 their rims in a hot-bed, and give but very little water, if any, until 

 the plants are up and growing freely; but afterwards they will re- 

 quire a good supply. As the weather gets warm, give them plenty 

 of air, and also sufficient head-room, till the middle of May ; then 

 place them where designed to flower, first tying the advancing stems 

 to small green painted sticks to prevent their being dashed about by 

 the winds. 



The time for planting these roots in the open ground is, in the 

 southern States, between the first and twentieth of this month ; the 

 more northerly, the later ; in the middle States, the last week in 

 April or first ten days of May ; and in the eastern States, between 

 the fifteenth and twentieth of May. 



Prepare for them beds of rich sandy loam, which, being well 

 trenched or dug, divest the roots of all the larger offsets, or of the 

 whole, if the flowers are the exclusive objects, and plant them in 

 rows one foot asunder and eight inches distant from one another 

 therein, making small drills for their reception, and covering their 

 crowns or upper parts about an inch or an inch and a half deep 

 with fine loose earth. They will require no further care but to keep 

 them free from weeds, and to support their flower-stems till Novem- 

 ber, when tjie roots are to be taken up and managed as then directed, 

 except to cut off the stems after the bloom is over. The offsets are 

 to be planted in like manner, but somewhat closer, to produce blow- 

 ing roots for the ensuing season, as the old ones seldom flower well 

 the second year, though they will increase abundantly. 



SCARLET AMARYLLIS. 



Its management and season of planting are in every particular the 

 same as directed for the tuberose ; it flowers generally in about a 

 month after its being planted, and its bulbs do not ripen sufficiently 

 for taking up before November. It is increased by offsets from the 

 roots, which are to be treated as those of the tuberose. In order to 

 have a succession of the flowers, you may in the middle States plant 

 some of their roots in the open ground, once a week, from the twen- 

 tieth of April to the middle of June. And if the roots are strong 

 and are preserved in saw-dust or the like, they will keep good and 

 blow well, even when planted at that late period. However, the 

 roots will not be so strong the ensuing season, nor the increase so 

 numerous, as if they had been planted in due time. 



These can be made to flower during any of the winter months, by 

 planting some of the strongest bulbs, which were taken up in No- 

 vember and kept dry till the time of planting, in pots of light good 

 earth, and plunging them into the bark-pit in the hot-house, or into 

 a good hot-bed : in a month or five weeks after, or sooner, if the heat 

 be regular and brisk, they will produce their very admirable flowers. 



