110 FAMILIAB GARDEN FLOWERS. 



enjoy them is to buy a new stock of bulbs^ or, more pro- 

 perly speaking, " corms/' every year, as by such means you 

 insure a briUiant display at small cost of either money 

 or labour. In Guernsey the sun-heat is sufficient to 

 ripen the growth perfectly, and the bulb merchants obtain 

 their annual supplies from thence, or from the south of 

 France or Italy. It is the comparative coldness of the 

 English summer that renders it difficult to flower the roots 

 a second time ; but this difficulty may be surmouirted, and 

 it is our business to show the way. 



For a pretty display of ixias and sparaxis we provide, 

 in the month of September, a nice mixture of sweet leaf- 

 mould one part, fibrous peat three parts, and silver sand 

 two parts. A good sandy peat, containing a reasonable 

 amount of fibre, will suffice without any admixture, but it is 

 not everywhere to be had ready-made from ]\Iotlier Earth. 

 For all general purposes, five-inch pots, three to five roots 

 in a pot, will be the best rule as to sizes aiid numbers. 

 But large pans, if somewhat shallow, are equally suitable. 

 In any case, it is folly to spread the roots over a great 

 space, and five in a five-inch pot will be none too many for 

 a good head of bloom. Crock the pots with care, fill nearly 

 full with the soil, and then place the bulbs, and cover them 

 just enough to put them out of sight. The soil should be 

 a little moist in the first instance, in which case there 

 will be no necessity for giving water. But if the soil is 

 dry, give them one dose of water, and pack them all away 

 in a cold frame ; draw the light over, and leave them to 

 manage their own affairs for a little while. 



If kept safe from frost, Avith no more moisture than 

 just suffices to encourage root-action, they will in due 

 time put up their green spears, and show that they will 



