126 BULBS AND THEIR CULTIVATION. 



afterwards replanting in a sunny cold frame to ripen the 

 corms. Keep dry in autumn and winter, and repot in 

 November. Increased by offsets. 



Crocus. The crocus is too well known to need any 

 detailed descriptions of its good qualities as a pot or border 

 bulbous-rooted plant. But the inexperienced amateur 

 may not possibly be aware that there are a number of very 

 pretty species, apart from the common kinds, which flower 

 in autumn as. well as in spring, and make charming sub- 

 jects for pot culture in the cold greenhouse. For example, 

 asturicus, purple; iridiflorus, lilac; pulchellus, blue; nudi- 

 florus, purple; sativus, purple; and speciosus, blue, flower 

 in October and November; and biflorus, white and black; 

 alatavicus, a similar colour; reticulatus, lilac and white; 

 Sieberi, lilac; and vernus, white and purple, blossom from 

 January onwards. These, therefore, with the ordinary 

 Dutch kinds, will help to make the cold house quite gay 

 from autumn to mid-spring. 



The species just mentioned should be grown preferably 

 in shallow pans, 4in. deep and Gin. wide, filled with com- 

 post of two parts loam, one part leaf -mould, and one part 

 coarse silver sand. Arrange the corms an inch apart, 

 and cover them with about half an inch of soil. Place 

 in a cold frame, and cover with about an inch of fibre. 

 The autumn-flowering kinds should be potted in August, 

 and the others in October. Eemove to the greenhouse 

 directly growth begins. The common Dutch crocuses 

 may be potted in any ordinary good sandy soil, containing 

 a little leaf-mould or rotten manure. Three-inch pots are 

 best for these, and five or six bulbs may be planted in 

 each. Place the pots in a cold frame, and cover with 

 fibre refuse or cinder ashes till growth commences; then 

 transfer to the greenhouse. In all cases plenty of water 

 must be supplied during growth. After growth is com- 

 pleted, transfer the choice kinds to the cold frame and 

 withhold water. The common sorts are best planted out 



