THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



transplanting, as they do not like to be 

 disturbed at the roots when in a grow- 

 ing state. Or you may secure some 

 good bulbs from any seed or florist's 

 establishment when the bulbs are dor- 

 mant ; get them in July or August if 

 possible, when they can be at once pot- 

 ted into four or five inch pots, filled 

 with good loamy potting soil, very little 

 if any drainage being required. Plant 

 the bulbs so that the tip or point of the 

 bulb is just under the soil ; press the 

 soil lightly around the bulbs, water 

 thoroughly. If the soil settles, so that 

 the bulbs show, cover with more soil, 

 water, and either plunge or stand the 

 pot out of doors on coal ashes, to pre- 

 vent worms getting into the pots. Water 

 only when appearing to be dry ; sparingly 

 at first, but sufficient to soak the soil ; 

 increase the supply of water as required 

 when growth commences, which will be 

 slow. The pots can remain out of doors 

 until about September, when they can 

 be taken in and placed in a cool tem- 

 perature, ranging from 40 to 55 , as the 

 freesia rebels at any attempt to force it, 

 resenting such treatment by producing 

 small and inferior spikes of flowers, and 

 producing small bulbs which will give 

 poor results the following season. A 

 few pots may be put into a warmer posi 

 tion when flower spikes appear so as to 

 secure a few early flowers ; by judicious 

 management a succession of bloom may 

 be secured from Xmas until Easter, 

 possibly later. The plants may be sup- 

 ported as required ; I find the best plan 



is to put four or five small sticks around 

 the edge of the pot, high enough to 

 support the foliage, and wind around 

 from one to the other of these fine twine 

 or raffia. The after treatment of this 

 bulb is very simple ; keep them grow- 

 ing in a temperature as at first mention- 

 ed until the foliage shows signs of 

 decay, then dry off gradually, until the 

 foliage is nearly yellow, then withhold 

 water altogether, stand the pots foliage 

 and all away in a dry cool place, free 

 from frost, until the following summer, 

 when they can be shaken out and pot- 

 ted as above described. The freesia 

 can be increased very easily, if the 

 small bulbs found when repotting are 

 picked out, and sown in boxes or pots 

 similar to seeds of the same size, treat- 

 ing after as for larger bulbs, picking out 

 any bulbs that are large enough to 

 flower when repotting them and grow, 

 ing the small ones on again until large 

 enough for flowering purposes. 



In conclusion, I may say that no 

 plant that I know of, will give more 

 pleasure and gratification than this 

 pretty little Cape, as it is easy of culture, 

 and of graceful habit, which with its 

 prettily formed and sweetly perfumed 

 flowers, make it so desirable an acquisi- 

 tion to the amateur's collection of plants. 

 I may add in conclusion, that neither of 

 the three plants, treated on in this 

 paper, will give the amateur much 

 trouble with insect pests, a point that 

 strongly recommends them as window 

 plants. 



Early Seed Sowing — Plant seeds 

 of nearly all varieties to be started in- 

 doors as follows : Fill shallow boxes 

 nearly full of good garden soil, sprinkle 

 the seed over, then sift on enough fine 

 soil to cover the seeds well from sight, 

 press down fimly with a bit of board, 

 sprinkle or set the box into a pan con- 



taining an inch or two of water until the 

 moisture begins to show at the top of 

 the soil, then cover loosely and set in a 

 warm place near the stovepipe. Watch 

 the box that the soil does not become 

 dry and as soon as the first plant appears 

 move to a sunny window. — [W. F. Heath. 



234 



