CAUSES OF FAILURE IN EUCHARIS CULTURE. 



195 



days ; but, presumably, so tenacious of life are these insects that 

 this barbarous treatment does not destroy their vitality, for with 

 the first fresh roots put forth by the long-suffering bulbs the 

 mite also appears with them ; or at any rate they are very soon 

 to be found, but where they come from I cannot say. 



If all that has been done to Eucharis bulbs with a view to 

 getting rid of the mite could be condensed into book form, there 

 would be some very curious, if not particularly instructive reading. 

 At Powderham Castle, Devon, my friend Mr. Powell became so 

 disgusted with his stock of Eucharis that he threw the whole 

 lot into a wood at the back of a conservatory. There they 

 remained the whole winter through, and, to the surprise of Mr. 

 Powell and others who saw them, they not only survived, but 

 commenced growing afresh in spring. I saw them some time 

 after they had been given another chance in the stove, but can- 

 not say they looked particularly happy. I have had plenty since 

 that time looking equally feeble, and I know the reason. 



The Eucharis will stand a fair amount of hard work and 

 rough treatment before they give signs of becoming sickly, but 

 if once they get into a bad plight they cannot be recovered in a 

 hurry. The wonder is, not that strong plants do break down, 

 but rather that they stand so much as they do. Nothing less 

 than three crops of flowers will content the owners of a good 

 stock of bulbs ! The same bulbs may not flower three times in a 

 year, but, all the same, they are treated with a view to cause 

 them to do so — let the consequences be what they may. In order 

 to make them flower at certain times, they are rested and dried 

 off in comparatively low temperatures, being shifted about from 

 one place to another, and in due course suddenly returned into 

 the stove and subjected to a strong heat, the excitement bringing 

 up the flower-scapes in due course. Another favourite practice 

 with those who have a healthy stock of plants is to shake them 

 out clear of soil every spring, sorting over and repotting as they 

 think fit. This has the effect of bringing up the first batch of 

 flowers quickly, two more crops during the season being obtained 

 by the drying-off, resting, and exciting process. This, and the 

 practice of repotting less often, but including the other part of 

 drying off and resting in low temperature, may answer for a few 

 years, but, sooner or later, the "pitcher goes to the well once too 

 often," and then the mite is heard of. 



D 2 



