394 
TAKING POSSESSION OF A GARDEN. 
The Alstrcemeria Eremhaultii, chilensis, 
Bar-clayana, hicolor, Reideli, Berteroana, 
&c. are probably all garden varieties, or hy- 
brids. With regard to A, Erembaultii, there 
can be little doubt of its hybrid origin, since 
it is said to have been obtained by a cross 
between A. peleyrina and A. pulckra, having 
itself produced a variety called tricolor. M, 
Erembault-Dumesnil, of Tournon, is said to 
have raised this production, so remarkable by 
the beauty of its flowers. The capability of 
yielding varieties of colour appears to be very 
considerable in the Alstrcemerias, if we may 
judge by what has been already obtained in 
this way by cultivators from chance sowings 
of the seeds of these plants. The palm has 
been disputed by Belgium, France, and Eng- 
land, in the production of these varieties. 
CULTURE. 
With regard to culture, there are two sys- 
tems adopted. The Belgian growers maintain 
that they do not thrive in pots ; whilst in 
England pot-culture is preferred for the pur- 
pose of flowering them well. We have seen 
magnificent Alstrcemerias in England, ob- 
tained by the following system of culture : — 
It matters not whether the plants are grown 
from seeds, cuttings, or roots, the soil in 
which they are grown is always the same, 
and is composed of peat, light sandy loam, 
mixed with leaf-mould and silver-sand, the 
whole in the proportion of one-third of each. 
This soil should be well mixed up together, 
so that it may be perfectly uniform in its 
composition. The usual manner of crocking 
tiie pots is quite sufiicient to ensure good 
drainage. On the substructure thus formed 
at the bottom of the pots, the soil, which 
should have been passed through a sieve, is 
placed, and at the same time the plants are 
also allotted the position they are intended to 
occupy. They will grow more or less rapidly 
according to their situation in the green- 
house. They require a moderate supply of 
water ; but when they ai'e about to flower, 
they must be watei'ed much more copiously. 
If the buds are numerous, a little clear liquid 
manure may be added, which will enlarge and 
materially aid the development of the flowers. 
It has been asserted that the colours are brighter 
and more varied through its influence. 
The Alstrcemerias require air, and as much 
as possible the direct action of the sun, in the 
absence of which the colours are pale ; but 
when once the flowers are open, they must 
have shade, as the sun very much shortens 
the duration of their flowering season. After 
they have ceased flowering, the plants are 
taken out of the pots, and divided: one of the 
divisions slightly furnished with roots is suf- 
ficient for propagation. These divided plants 
are put into small pots, and placed in the 
greenhouse or a frame ; as they grow, their 
pots are changed according to the rate of their 
development. They are then treated again in 
the manner just explained. 
Many amateurs prefer to preserve their 
Alstrcemerias in pots during winter, in order 
to put them, on the arrival of spring, in a 
border in the open ground, in a warm shel- 
tered situation. This is the practice of the 
Belgian growers: a border is dug about a foot 
and a half deep ; a quantity of brick rubbish 
is laid at the bottom, and this is overlaid 
with a mixture of fine porous sandy loam, 
sandy peat, rotten dung, or well decomposed 
leaf-mould, which ingredients are well mixed 
together. The young plants are then planted 
about fourteen inches apart, and in quincunx 
order. In October, when frosts may be ex- 
pected, the bed is covered with a frame and 
light, which is surrounded with a lining of 
spent dung. When the weather is frosty, 
mats are placed over the light ; and air and 
sun are given as circumstances permit In 
the spring, when all fear of frost has dis- 
appeared, the plants are supplied wtth some 
clear guano-water, when nature must be left 
to act for herself upon them. From June to 
September, the cultivator is rewai'ded for his 
pains by a profusion of flowers. If they are 
to be raised from seeds obtained either di- 
rectly from America or by culture in Europe, 
the seed may be sown in the spring, in seed- 
pans, and in soil which has been made very 
fine; when sown, the whole should have a light 
covering of sand. 
The Alstrcemerias are too pretty, too va- 
ried, and too interesting to be neglected by 
the lovers of nature and beauty; and we 
strongly recommend our countrymen to be- 
stow that attention on them which they so 
eminently merit. 
TAKING POSSESSION OF A GARDEN. 
This commences the most important period 
of a man's gardening operations. So mych 
has been done, that he must make up his 
mind to forego his own taste, or be prepared 
for infinitely more labour and expense than 
would form a new one. True, he may have 
materials on the spot, but wrongly placed; and 
he is debarred from the advantages of a new 
piece of ground, which he could have trenched, 
levelled, and rolled all over, and been at liberty 
