304 THE CULTURE OF FLOWERING RULES 



OXALIS 



THESE frame plants are suitable for the cool greenhouse or for forcing, 

 and they are adapted also for the open border in peculiarly favourable 

 climates: They are particularly neat and cheerful, flowering abun- 

 dantly, and requiring only the most ordinary treatment of frame 

 plants. In winter they should be kept dry. The 48-sized pot is 

 suitable, and about five bulbs may be planted in each, using light soil 

 freely mixed with sand. 



RANUNCULUS 



To maintain a collection of named Ranunculuses demands skill and 

 patience, but, strange to say, a few of the most brilliant self-coloured 

 and spotted and striped varieties may be easily grown, provided only 

 that a cool, deep, rich, moist soil can be provided for them. The 

 best staple soil for the Ranunculus is a loam or clay in which the 

 common field Buttercup grows freely and plentifully. The situation 

 should be open, the bed well pulverised, and the soil effectively 

 drained, both to promote a vigorous growth and as far as possible to 

 save the plants from injury by wire- worms, leather- jackets and other 

 ground vermin. Elaborate modes of manuring, such as mixing 

 several sorts of manures together in mystical proportions, are alto- 

 gether unnecessary, but a good dressing of rotten manure and leaf- 

 mould should be dug in before planting, and if the soil is particularly 

 heavy, sharp sand must be added. The roots may be planted in 

 November and December in gardens where vegetation does not 

 usually suffer from damp in winter ; but where there is any reason to 

 apprehend danger from damp, the planting should be deferred to 

 February, and should then be completed within the first twenty days, 

 if weather permit. Prepare a fine surface to plant on, and draw drills 

 six inches apart and two inches deep, and place the tubers, claws 

 downwards, in the drills, four inches apart, covering them with sifted 

 soil before drawing the earth back to the drill. Rake the bed smooth, 

 and the planting is completed. To keep free from weeds, and to 

 give plentiful supplies of water in dry weather, are the two principal 

 features of the summer cultivation. When the flowers are past, and 

 the leaves begin to fade, take up the roots, dry them in a cool place, 

 and store in peat or cocoa-nut fibre. 



TURBAN RANUNCULUSES. These are remarkably handsome 



