106 



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Whether or not the Eucharis in its natural home is dried off 

 at one time and flooded with water at another I am unable to 

 say, and in any case it does not affect my argument, for the 

 simple reason that gardeners are supposed to improve on, not 

 imitate, Nature. That the Eucharis does like plenty of water I 

 am well aware. The bulbs will thrive well and flower in nothing 

 but water, but this must not be cold or stagnant, or the points 

 of the roots will die, and then the whole of the strongest roots 

 will soon follow suit if the water is not quickly changed. To a 

 dose (or probably several doses) of cold water is attributed the 

 failure of the finest pots of Eucharis in the West of England, 

 the said pots being as much as two men could lift, and filling the 

 centre of a large span-roofed house. I saw them in their prime. 

 I have seen them since their fall, but this time the mite is not 

 blamed. 



If the pots are well filled with roots the mite may be defied, 

 but the question is how to attain this desirable end. When once 

 there are mites in the bulbs they are most undoubtedly very 

 difficult things to restore to a clean, healthy state. But may 

 not the weak root-action which makes them so very liable to 

 attacks of mite be due to the bulbs being already and previously 

 in an enfeebled state ? All, or nearly all, other bulbous-rooted 

 plants are potted or repotted when in a dry and almost rootless 

 state, and some cannot be relied upon to flower properly unless 

 prevented from forming top-growth before the pots are well filled 

 with roots. Contrast this treatment with what the poor Eucharis 

 has to put up with. The latter are shaken out when in full leaf, 

 repotted, and allowed to flower, if they will, almost directly after. 

 In some cases the bulbs are equal to supporting the leaves and 

 flower-scapes, and also to the formation of fresh roots, but 

 more often than not it is the flowers that get the best of it, the 

 leaves and roots faring very badly indeed. Pots of such poorly 

 established plants only want to be dried off just as they are 

 beginning to gain some strength to complete their temporary or 

 permanent ruin — and then once more the mite is the scapegoat. 

 Flagging leaves do not assist the roots, but rather contrariwise, 

 and those bulbs become the most surely and quickly re- 

 established in fresh soil that have their leaves all cut off prior to 

 repotting. 



No fanciful composts are needed ; they are a mistake in fact. 



