PROPAGATION. 151 



is the time to gather and place them in a warm position 

 to complete the ripening process. Seedsmen offer seeds 

 of a few bulbous and tuberous-rooted plants, such as 

 freesias, cyclamen, etc., but the supply is limited. Any- 

 way, if the seeds can be obtained they should be sown at 

 once, no matter what period of the year it may be. A 

 suitable compost for all seeds of bulbous and tuberous- 

 rooted plants is one composed of equal parts of loam, leaf- 

 mould, and silver sand. This compost should ibe placed 

 in pans, shallow boxes, or pots, each being well drained. 

 Press the soil down evenly and firmly, and leave an inch 

 of space between the soil and the top of the box or pan 

 Sow the seeds thinly, and just cover with fine soil ; then 

 water thoroughly, and cover with a pane of glass. Seeds 

 of hothouse kinds should be reared in a temperature of 

 75 to 85 deg. ; warm greenhouse ones in a temperature of 

 55 to 65 deg. ; cool greenhouse ones in a temperature of 

 45 to 55 deg. ; half-hardy ones in a cold greenhouse ; and 

 hardy ones in a cold frame. 



Subsequent treatment consists of keeping the soil just 

 moist, and shading from sunshine. Some seeds will ger- 

 minate in a month or two; others in six months; and 

 others, again, may be a year before doing so. It will, 

 therefore, be understood that considerable patience is re- 

 quired in rearing bulbs from seed. When the seedlings 

 do appear, and can be easily handled, they will require 

 to be carefully transplanted either singly in thumb-pots 

 or placed an inch or so apart in pans or boxes in similar 

 compost to that used for seeds. They should be allowed 

 to remain thus for a year; then the hothouse and green- 

 house kinds may be transferred to larger pots, and the 

 hardy ones likewise, or planted out in a bed of sandy soil 

 in a cold frame. In the third year treat the indoor kinds 

 as advised for the parent bulbs, and the hardy ones plant 

 out in prepared beds in the open, treating them precisely 

 as advised for hardy bulbs generally. Some may flower 

 when three or four years old, while others, like lilies, will 



