THE IRIS. 
and when that is the case, there is little danger 
of their being injured by cold. If the situation 
is decidedly unfavourable for the preservation 
of delicate plants, it will be safer to take up 
the most tender sorts, and pot them, keeping 
them in a cool frame during winter, and 
planting them out again in spring. If they 
are left in the ground and require trans- 
planting, the early part of spring is the best 
period for this to be done ; and, as a general 
rule, they should by no means be disturbed on 
the approach of winter. In planting, the 
tuberous root-like stems, or rhizomas, as they 
are termed, should be kept about level with the 
general level of the surface, and very slightly 
covered (an inch or so) by raising the soil 
about them. They are pi - opagated by dividing 
these rhizomas. The Chalcedonian Iris suc- 
ceeds with treatment of this sort, if well watered 
in summer and a little protected in winter. 
THE ROBUST TUBEBOUS-EOOTED SPECIES. 
These are among the freest growing of 
herbaceous plants, succeeding well in common 
garden soil, especially if it is a little moist. 
Being mostly plants that grow to a considerable 
size, spreading so as to form a large tuft, and 
many of them rising two to three feet in 
height, it will be perceived that the situations 
for which they are adapted, are those large 
miscellaneous flower borders where all kinds 
of plants are planted indiscriminately, save 
that the tallest are ranged near the back, and 
the dwarfer ones in front. In such a situation 
as this, these kinds are perfectly in keeping. 
They are also suitable for shrubbery borders, 
that is to say, borders by the sides of the walks 
in shrubberies, where flowers are planted in 
front of the shrubs. When a bed or clump is 
devoted to the growth of a collection of Iris — 
and they would certainly make a very striking 
group — these larger growing kinds should 
of course occupy the central parts, while the 
dwarfer ones in order, should be ranged around 
them. They are propagated by the division 
of the rhizoma, or root-stalk. 
THE BULBOUS-EOOTED SPECIES. 
The different bulbous-rooted kinds, ex- 
cluding the varieties of I. Xiphium, and 
I. xiphioides, which come within the province 
of the florist, should be treated something 
. in the way recommended for the delicate 
tuberous-rooted varieties, excepting that the 
roots are quite as well taken up after flowering, 
and kept buried in sand till the planting season, 
which should be about October. 
THE AQUATIC SPECIES. 
The common Iris Pseucl-Acorus is well 
adapted for planting by the margin of pieces 
of water, in which places it is naturally found. 
The Gladwyn Iris may also be planted in 
similar situations, scarcely so much in the 
water as the other. Their long upright sword- 
like leaves, altogether independent of their 
flowers, have a very fine appearance in such 
situations. They require no special cultivation, 
requiring only to be securely planted in the 
mud, or soil, as the case may be. 
THE CHINESE IRIS. 
This plant may be grown out of doors, 
provided it has a dry situation and is protected 
from frost. If kept in a frame in winter, and 
planted on a warm border, against a south 
wall in summer, it will produce flowers. Under 
good green-house treatment, it will attain a 
considerable degree of perfection, requiring to 
have a period of rest in winter, to be planted 
in light rich sandy loam, and to be grown 
very freely, and well ripened in summer time. 
Mr. Mearns, curator of the Leeds Botanic 
Garden, details the following as a very suc- 
cessful mode of treating it : — The plant is 
well known to produce suckers in abundance. 
The plants are treated as pine-suckers, but 
without bottom heat ; and, although they 
grow in a common green-house, they do better 
in a pine-stove. It is of the utmost importance 
to secure a sturdy growth, by taking advantage 
of the fine weather of summer and autumn, to 
mature the growth previous to flowering. 
When a stock of young plants has to be kept 
over the winter, the green-house is the best 
place for wintering them, as they are kept 
more dormant and are more vigorous when 
excited. They are shaken out of the soil, and 
the roots are trimmed very closely, removing 
every appearance of the embryo of suckers; 
they are then potted in good rich compost, 
into small pots, (three-inch ones will do,) and 
placed in a stove, or warm pit, and very 
carefully watered. As the roots increase they 
are re-potted, but careis taken never to over-pot 
them, or to get them into too large pots. At 
almost every potting, a good deal of the soil is 
removed, and replaced by fresh soil ; the 
suckers also, if any are produced, are re- 
moved. If the roots are not numerous enough 
to require a larger pot, they are re-potted into 
those they were taken from. " As I find it 
needful to push my plants on," continues Mr. 
Mearns, " I re-pot them four or five times in 
the season ; and they will send up a branch a 
yard high, with a long succession of blossoms. 
The stock may be kept in a green-house, and, 
if the temperature be not too low, they will 
bloom there in the winter ; but to keep them 
in longer succession, some should be placed in 
the stove early in autumn ; and as they come 
into flower, they should be removed to where 
they may be required, and others replaced in 
the stove in succession. Whilst these plants, 
