66 BULBS AND TUBEROUS-ROOTED PLANTS. 



in cold storage, where they cannot start, the more dan- 

 ger there is of their starting, and if started before they 

 are put into boxes they will not perfect their flowers. 



A wide difference of opinion exists as to the temper- 

 ature into which they should be placed. But the most 

 approved plan seems to be to start them in a low temper- 

 ature, say from 50 to 60, and running it up as high as 

 90 before they come into flower ; after that place them 

 in a cooler house, say from 60 to 70, to harden off. 

 Most growers keep them dark until considerable growth 

 is made, to draw them up as much as possible. We 

 have seen them flower to perfection when the boxes were 

 placed underneath the benches, on the pips, bringing 

 them into full light after the first bells were opened. 

 But good strong spikes of bloom are best obtained when 

 they have plenty of light and air, and with a temperature 

 of 85 to 90 after they are first started. 



They may be started and flowered in pots very suc- 

 cessfully, by following the same course of treatment 

 from the start. Twenty-five pips can be grown in a 

 seven-inch pot, and, when they are well grown, they 

 meet a ready sale in the markets. Although there is 

 but one species, there are several varieties, among them 

 a pink-flowered sort, and a double-flowered variety, 

 neither being useful nor beautiful. 



COOPERIA. 



A genus of bulbs allied to the Zephyranthes, but of 

 larger bulb, stronger habit of growth, and producing 

 larger flowers. The flowers are mostly white, and they 

 open quite flat, always first expanding at night, but 

 when once open they remain until the petals fall. They 

 are, properly, winter-flowering plants, and it is difficult 

 to keep the bulbs in a condition for summer flowering. 



C. pedunculata. Decidedly the best of the species 

 for the garden ; its flowers are produced solitary, but in 



