HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 35 



old progenitor, as it is found in the old walls of Rochester Castle, 

 in the English county of Kent. The beautiful Cyrilla pulchella, 

 now Achimenes coccinea, was worthy to be at the head of such a 

 noble race. In richness and elegance it has not indeed been sur- 

 passed by any that have followed it. The name, Cyrilla, was 

 changed on account of its being discovered that it had been previ- 

 ously appropriated by Linnasus to a Carolinian plant, the beautiful 

 small evergreen tree, hardy in Philadelphia, Cyrilla Caroliniana. — 

 The first introduction was probably A. pedunculata, about 1839 or 

 '40. It did not become much known however till the next year ; 

 the A. longi flora, and the A. granliflora appeared in that following, 

 when everything in the shape of an Achimenes was eagerly sought 

 after. The number of kinds in cultivation now probably exceeds 

 one hundred, and one would almost imagine that their native forests, 

 in Brazil, Mexico and New Grenada, had been by this time com- 

 pletely ransacked ; but " the cry is still they come," and assisted 

 by hybridization, there is no prospect of a dearth of novelty in the 

 tribe for many years hence. 



A good soil for the Achimenes, is a compost of turfy loam, leaf- 

 mould, and sand in about equal parts. A close, compact soil, will 

 not grow them well. Where turfy peat can be obtained it is prefer- 

 able to loam ; broken charcoal, in lumps about the size of marbles, 

 has a very beneficial effect when mixed with the soil, both in keep- 

 ing the soil loose and open, and in affording a constant supply of 

 moisture, without a superabundance. Drainage is very important, 

 as, though it is almost impossible to give them too much moisture, 

 dampness, or stagnant water is very injurious or even fatal to them. 

 Having got the soil in readiness, the "bulbs" may be started at any 

 time when a moist heat of 70° can be commanded; most garden- 

 ers start them about March or April. It is often an object of com- 

 petition to have the finest plant from a single bulb. In that ca?e 

 one of the finest selected can be placed in the centre of a three 

 inch pot, but for effect the best plan is to put in three bulbs of about 

 equal size in a four inch pot, at equal distances from the centre. They 

 should be placed about half an inch beneath the soil, and kept just 

 moist, until the shoots appear above, when water maybe gradually in- 

 creased. They are real lovers of the syringe, which may be given 



