NERINE. 

 The Guernsey Lily. 



This is an interesting genus of greenhouse bulbs, but 

 not useful in a commercial sense. They are but little 

 grown, notwithstanding their remarkable beauty, because 

 of the impression that they are difficult subjects to man- 

 age. This difficulty would be readily overcome if the 

 flowers had a market value. The Nerine, to flower well, 

 must be grown in considerable heat in autumn, and 

 have as light and airy a situation as the greenhouse 

 affords, and must, at all times, have a liberal supply of 

 water. The plants must be treated in this way until 

 nearly spring, gradually withholding water until May, 

 when complete rest should be given them. They will 

 come into flower about the first of September, previous 

 to which time watering should again commence. This 

 method applies particularly to N. sarniensis, the more 

 important of the species. 



N. sarniensis, This species is a native of the 

 Cape of Good Hope, but has become naturalized on the 

 Island of Guernsey, and is grown in immense quantities 

 for the English market. There is no bulb more easily 

 managed than this, when first imported. If we could 

 get bulbs direct, as soon as ripe, say about the first of 

 August, and pot them, they would immediately come 

 into flower, with scarcely a failure, but we cannot grow 

 them later, excepting in the manner stated. It would 

 be much the cheaper way to buy bulbs, annually, from 

 Guernsey, if they could be had in time. There is but 

 little difference in the shape of the flowers, which are 

 peculiar to themselves, in the species ; the colors range 

 from clear pink to brilliant scarlet. 



