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JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



of crocks for drainage. The most suitable soil is a mixture of 

 two-thirds Hampshire yellow fibrous loam, one-sixth decayed 

 leaves (not leaf-mould) rubbed through a half-inch sieve, and one- 

 sixth coarse Thames sand ; the decayed leaves, or the coarse siftings 

 of the loam, being placed over the crocks. The seeds are carefully 

 sown, so that two are not close together, otherwise the seedlings 

 weaken each other as they develop. The pans are then placed in a 

 one-pipe pit, which is covered with mats to keep it dark, and kept 

 at a temperature of about 75° Fahr. The pans are daily looked 

 over to see that the soil does not become dry, as is often the case 

 at the sides of the pans. In about six weeks the young plants 

 appear ; the pans are then taken to a greenhouse and placed as near 

 the glass as possible, damped morning and evening, and shaded 

 from the sun. One hundred pans are generally sown, so as to 

 give an abundant supply, and enable us to reject the weakest 

 plants, although it is found that the most precocious plants 

 produce the worst blooms. 



About the end of September the seedlings are pricked out in 

 the same sized pans, three dozen in each, with the same soil and 

 treatment as before. Towards the end of November they are 

 transplanted into thumb -pots, no change being made either in 

 soil or treatment. 



The plants in these two stages are kept at a temperature of 

 60° Fahr., and the thermometer may without injury be allowed to 

 register as much as 70°. When the external conditions are 

 favourable, air may be freely admitted to them. 



At the beginning of March they are repotted into 60's, or 

 4-inch pots, using the same soil as before, and still continuing 

 the same treatment, with the exception of potting them a little 

 firmer. By the end of April last year as many as 750 dozen 

 plants had been potted off in this manner. 



About the end of May they are transferred to 48's, in which 

 pots they are to bloom, but some few dozen are placed in 32's, 

 or they bloom before they are required for market purposes. 



It is necessary to keep the plants well up in the pots, but the 

 corm should nevertheless be covered with the soil. At the last 

 potting the soil is changed, being composed of five-sixths loam, 

 one-twelfth Thames sand, and one-twelfth decayed leaves. The 

 plants are then potted as firmly as possible without pressing the 

 corms, whilst in all the former stages (except when they are 



