[259] 



CBO 



C. 



pri'nceps (chief. Fringed-leaved). 



Tournefortia'nus (Tournetort's). October. 



Greek Archipelago. 



valle'wla (valley). White. October. Tre- 



bizond Alps. 



variegaftus (variegated). $. Variegated. Fe- 



bruary. Levant. 1829. 



ve'rnus (spring). $. Purple. February. Eng 



land. 



albifto'ru3 (white-flowered). $. White. 



February. Carinthia. 



apri'lis (April). $. Violet. April. 



f.la'tior (taller). |. February. Alps. 



leucorhy'nchus (white-beaked). . White, 



blue, February. 



Neapolita'nus (Neapolitan). J. Purple, 



blue. February. Naples. 



obova'tus (reversed-egg-shaped). . Pur- 

 ple. February. South Europe. 



parviflo'rus (small-flowered). $. White. 



February. Splugen. 



pi'ctus (painted). $. Pale white. February. 



nersi'color ( party-coloured). . Purple. Febru- 



ary. South Europe. 1629. 



CEOCUS CULTURE. Propagation: by 

 Seed. Sow the seed in October, in a 

 prepared bed of light, rich earth, in an 

 open situation, covering it a quarter of 

 an inch. The seedlings will come up in 

 the spring, and should be kept well 

 weeded. When the leaves decay, clear 

 them away, and spread a thin coat of 

 fresh, light earth over the roots. Allow 

 them to remain another season, and then, 

 when the leaves decay, take up the bulbs 

 carefully, sifting the soil so as to find 

 even the smallest. In August prepare a 

 bed of fresh, rich earth, turning it over 

 two or three times to mellow and pul- 

 verise. About the middle of September, 

 on a dry day, level the bed, and draw 

 drills across it four inches apart; then 

 plant the young bulbs in the drills three 

 inches asunder, pressing them down 

 gently into the soil ; and, when all are 

 planted, level the ridges of the drills 

 with a rake carefully down. In this bed 

 they should remain two years. The 

 second year most of them will flower ; 

 and, when in bloom, the colours should 

 be marked, to enable you to separate 

 them into their colours when they are 

 taken up. Any new fine varieties should 

 be especially taken care off. 



By Offsets. When the leaves decay, in 

 the summer, take up the bulbs, keeping 

 them in their various sorts; separate the 

 large-flowering bulbs from the small off- 

 sets, and plant the latter in a bed by 

 themselves, in the same way as is de- 

 scribed above for seedlings". In two 

 years take them up, sort tbe large roots 

 out again, and replant the small ones. 



Soil. The crocus delights in a dry 

 situation, and a rich, light, sandy soil. 

 In such a place and soil it flowers pro- 

 fusely, and produces large roots ; but in 

 a wet, poor soil it dwindles away. 



Culture. October is the best month 

 for planting, though it may be prolonged 

 to the middle of December. Take the 

 roots up every second year, planting the 

 offsets as described above. 



Insects. Slugs are their chief enemy, 

 which may be destroyed by watering the 

 beds or clumps with lime-water. 



Diseases. The bulbs sometimes be- 

 come like a mass of starch or meal, and 

 then will not grow. There is no remedy 

 for bulbs actually diseased, but they 

 ought to be carefully picked out, and not 

 mixed with the general stock, for fear of 

 infection. It seems to be caused by an 

 internal fungus. 



CHOPPING (MIXED) is growing two or 

 more crops together, one of which may 

 be either drawn young, so as to be out 

 of the other's way before it gets high 

 enough to be injured, or one of which 

 benefits the other by shading it.^ The 

 object of mixed cropping is to obtain the 

 largest amount of produce in the shortest 

 time from a given space. The subject 

 cannot be treated in detail within these 

 limited pages; and we must, therefore, 

 refer our readers to an essay on the sub- 

 ject in The Cottage Gardener, v. 274. See 

 ROTATION or CROPS. 



CROSSA'NDRA. (From fcrossos, a fringe, 

 and aner, an anther; fringed anthers, 

 or pollen-bags. Nat. ord., Acanthads 

 [Acanthacese]. Linn., l-Tetradynamia 

 S-Angiospermia. Allied to Justicia.) 



A showy stove evergreen shrub ; peat and loam ; 

 cuttings root readily in sand, in bottom-heat, at 

 any season, under glass. 

 C.fla'va (yellow-flowered}. $. Yellow. January. 



W. Africa. 1852. 



unduleefo'lia (wave-leaved). l. Orange, 

 scarlet. March. E. Ind. 1800. 



CEOTALA'RIA. (From krotalon, a cast*- 

 net, or hand- rattle ; the seeds rattle in 

 the pod if shaken. Nat. ord., Leyuminout 

 Plants [Fabacese]. Linn., 16-Monadelphia 

 "-Decandria. Allied to the Lupines.) 



Notwithstanding the great number of Crotala- 

 rias, with their gay-coloured pea-flowers, they are 

 not much prized by gardeners, owing to the 

 difficulty of preserving them from the attacks or 

 the red spider. Seed ; perennial kinds easily from 

 cuttings in sand, under glass ; loam and peat. 



STOVE ANNUALS, &C. 



C. acumina'ta (pointed-leaned). 1. Yellow. July. 

 Cape of Good Hope. 1820. Half-hardy. 



