36 THE FLORIST, AND 



every evening till they begin to flower, when it may be discontinued, 

 and the plants kept every way rather dryer. While growing they 

 love a light, airy, yet warm situation, but are better shaded from the 

 full rays of the sun. As they go out of bloom, water should be 

 withheld in proportion ; when entirely so, altogether. Then place 

 the pots in a dry place, rather warm if convenient, and keep them 

 dry until the starting period arrives. They propagate readily by 

 the bulbs — one plant producing, after a season's growth, a dozen or 

 more. Where it is desired to propagate any given kind extensively, 

 and the flowering is consequently not so much an object ; the plant 

 can be kept in a close, moist, and shady house. This will cause 

 most of the species to throw out small bulbs in the axils of the- 

 leaves in great quantity instead of flowers. Some kinds, as A. pe- 

 dunculata, will not bloom at all this way, producing only the small 

 bulbs. The bulbs of this variety, by the way, have a mucilagin- 

 ous substance adhering to them, which, when a quantity is held 

 together in the hand, causes them to roll over, as if they were of 

 the nature of a sensitive plant. Many writers, (doubtless following 

 one another,) have indeed described them as having the '«sensi«* 

 tive" property. Hybridization is easily accomplished m this genus, 

 Longiflora is a good maternal parent. Indeed, any that seed freely 

 are to be chosen, The spotted or party-colored kinds are best to 

 obtain the pollen from. Two self-colored kinds rarely make a good 

 cross, as the progeny are a shade between the two colors, and, as I 

 have repeatedly found, less beautiful. The seed, when ripe, should 

 be saved till spring, when it may be sown in very fine sandy peat, 

 in well drained pots or pans, and placed in a moist heat of 70 9 or 

 80°. They must be covered very slightly with soil, and not at all 

 if they can be placed in a situation w T here they can be shaded from 

 the suns rays, so as not to dry up while they can be kept moist 

 without saturation. 



Mr. Robertson, gardener to H. Ingersoll, Esq., exhibited the fin- 

 est Achimenes last fall ever seen at our society, but, according to 

 Mr. Buist's late account of the Chiswick exhibition, we have these 

 to beat yet. a Philadelphia gardener. 



< ♦«» » 



Received a supplement to R. Buist's Catalogue of stove, green- 

 hou< e and hardy plants. 



