186 



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Eaising Seedlings. 



The raising of seedling Snowdrops is not at all difficult. After 

 gathering the seed it should be kept in an airy place for a week 

 or two, to thoroughly ripen, and then it should be sown as soon 

 as possible. I have not met with much success from sowings 

 in the open ground, so I now always use boxes, and I find 

 that brandy-cases are very suitable for the purpose, as they are 

 strongly made of good wood, and are not' so deep as most boxes 

 of the size. I bore twenty-five f -inch holes in the bottom, and 

 then nail a 2-inch square strip of red deal about 3 inches from 

 each end. This keeps the boxes off the ground, makes them 

 handy to move, and prevents stagnation. I use ample drainage 

 and a free soil with plenty of grit in it to keep it sweet. The seed 

 is sown in drills about J inch deep, the drills filled up with silver 

 sand, and then J inch of sifted soil put over the whole. Each box 

 is numbered at the end or right side, and in my reference book 

 I enter the particulars of the seed sown in each row. These 

 boxes are placed about two feet from a low north wall, and are 

 never protected in any way. They require but little attention ; 

 of course, the weeds must be kept down, and a little fresh soil 

 added after the second year. The Marchantia and Spergula are 

 the greatest pests in this work. I usually let the seedlings remain 

 in the boxes until some of them begin to flower, which generally 

 occurs the fourth season. Galanthus seed comes up very irre- 

 gularly, and when seedlings are removed from the boxes they 

 will be found to vary from the size of a wheat-corn to that of 

 blooming bulbs. Seed of G. lutescens does not germinate for 

 several years as a rule. Last spring, in the same box, and from 

 seed sown at the same time, I had G. Impcrati in flower and 

 G. lutescens making its first appearance. If Snowdrop seed is 

 kept till the spring, it will not germinate until the following 

 spring. The true quality and size of seedlings cannot be ascer- 

 tained until the third'or fourth year of flowering. 



With me G. nivalis grows freely in all soils and situations. 

 G. plicatus is not very particular, but still some of its varieties 

 require extra care, as they have an unpleasant way of disappear- 

 ing. G. Elwesii does® not do well in close, retentive soil. G. 

 latifolius and G. caucasicus I believe prefer gritty loam, and 

 I should say that G. Fosteri would also like it. Mr. A. D. 



