104 



THE GREEN-HOUSE. 



cease from watering altogether, till the season returns, 

 when the bulbs regerminate. The bulbs during this 

 period are, on the whole, best kept in the pots, under 

 the soil in a dry shady place, and in the same tempe- 

 rature as that in which they are in the habit of grow- 

 ing. Some bulbs may be taken out of the soil and 

 kept some time in papers ; but if this is done for 

 more than a week or two, it tends to weaken the 

 bulb. The greater part of exotic bulbs should be 

 taken out of the pot, and repotted in fresh soil, a week 

 or two before their period of regerminating. 



Loam with a little sand, vegetable mould, or mould 

 of spit dung, forms a compost or soil in which almost 

 all bulbs will thrive. 



The Amarifllis requires a richer loam than most 

 bulbs, and I^x'ia and Gladiolus a soil rather more 

 sandy than the general average : equal parts of peat 

 and sand answer well for most of the Cape or African 

 bulbs, and loamy soil for those of the East Indies. 



All bulbs require to be placed near the light, and 

 they should have abundance of air in mild weather, 

 and plenty of water whilst in a growing state. 



Bulbs are mostly propagated by off- sets ; and some, 

 as the rwice and Gladioli, afford seeds. Tunicate 

 bulbs, as some of the Ornithdgalums, if cut over a 

 little above the middle, and the root end planted with 

 the section exposed, will form numerous little gems 

 near the margin of the outer coat ; and of most scaly 

 bulbs, if a leaf in full growth be stripped off close 



