GREENHOUSE FLOWEKING PLANTS. 39 



bition, and being easily managed, they ought to be more 

 widely cultivated amongst amateurs than is the case. The best 

 species, are L. auratum and L. speciosum, with their numerous 

 varieties. The soil best suited for their culture is one-half turfy 

 loam, one-fourth peat or leaf -mould and sharp sand, and one- 

 fourth of decayed cow-manure, with some bone-meal added. 

 To secure early specimens, a few pots should be exposed to the 

 influence of sun in the beginning of February, and a little 

 water given to start them. When the shoots are an inch 

 above the soil, the bulbs should be turned out of the pots, and 

 all the old soil picked clear away without injuring the young 

 roots. Clumps of from three to eight bulbs, according to the 

 kind, should be potted in well-drained 12 -inch pots, pressing 

 the soil firm about the roots, and leaving a little space for sur- 

 face-dressing. The plants should then be placed close to the 

 glass in a frame where frost cannot reach them, and watered 

 very sparingly till the roots are well through the soil. An 

 abundance of air should be allowed to play amongst the leaves 

 on all favourable occasions, that they may be firm and leathery 

 from the bottom of the shoot upwards, otherwise they will fall 

 off prematurely and weaken and disfigure the plant. After 

 the buds are set, liquid manure from soot and sheep-droppings 

 should be given once a week until the flowers begin to open. 

 The plants may be kept in the greenhouse to bring them in 

 early, or set in a sheltered place outside to keep them back. 

 If they are outside, the pots should be protected from the sun, 

 and a cool moist air maintained around them. The flowering 

 shoots should be supported with neat green-painted stakes, 

 and the leaves kept clean by sponging. After flowering the 

 plants should be gradually dried to ripen them, but the soil 

 should never get dust dry even while the bulbs are at rest. 



NEEIUM. 



This old-fashioned plant, N. Oleander, although nearly for- 

 gotten in gardens, may still be seen struggling for existence 

 in some cottager's window or amateur's greenhouse, with long 

 straggling branches and a few small flowers haK-way up the 



