172 
THE RANUNCULUS. 
beds are treated the same way ; the planting 
being conducted in all respects similar to those 
planted in February ; but the month chosen 
is October, and they frequently come up before 
there is any very decided winter. In this 
case, hoops should be placed across the beds, 
as close down as they well can be put, and 
mats, or transparent waterproof cloth, must 
be thrown over them whenever there is 
any chance of frost ; or, if this cannot be done, 
pea haulm or other loose litter should be 
placed over them to 'protect them, for the 
frost, if severe, would not fail to damage them 
considerably. Then, if the winter be mild, 
they will throw up their flowers early in 
the spring, and it will frequently be a stronger 
bloom than those planted in February ; but 
it is quite necessary to protect them against 
frost, or many would be destroyed, for in their 
growing state the tubers are soft and very sus- 
ceptible of damage by freezing. There are 
the scarlet Turban Ranunculuses, which are 
more hardy than the rest, and these planted 
in the autumn will flower before the tulips, 
or at the same time ; and we have, in olden 
times, seenarow of these round a tulip stage, 
in a narrow border next the cloth, which more 
forcibly reminds us of the fact. The after- 
management of autumn-planted ranunculuses 
is similar to the others. The decay of the 
foliage is a guide as to the taking up, and the 
drying, storing, occasional examining, and so 
forth, are to be attended to in a similar manner. 
When the tubers have dried well, we have 
said they take no harm till planting time, 
but they must be cleaned from their mould, 
and be properly divided before planting again. 
It will be seen that the roots or tubers as 
taken up have several eyes or crowns ; each 
of these is a separate plant, and requires to be 
removed or parted from the rest ; the forks 
of the tubers gi'ow in among one another, 
and they require careful handling to part 
them, or the lobes or fingers of the tuber 
will break. It is easy to perceive which are 
strong enough to bloom, and which are not. 
The former are for the blooming beds, and 
the smaller ones should be planted in separate 
beds, with labels to mark their several names, 
or numbers to correspond with names, so as to 
keep each sort separate. These smaller offsets 
should be planted in similar rows, but the 
tubers not more than three inches apart in 
the row, and the labels three inches from the 
tubers that end one sort, and begin another, 
so as not to mix or cause any mistake in the 
taking up. 
ARRANGEMENT. 
In planting the other beds of named flowers 
it is only necessary to do as with tulips ; keep 
a. book with an account of the rows, which 
having seven in each, we have only to enter the 
1st row number one, two, three, four, five, 
six, seven ; the names to each number thus : — ■ 
FIRST ROW. 
1 Alceste 
2 Duke of Sussex 
3 Commodore Napier 
4 Prince of Wales 
5 Princess Eoyal 
6 Talisman 
7 Zobeide 
SECOND ROW. 
1 Splendour 
2 Ckarybdis 
'6 Prince Eugene 
4 Numa 
5 Major Laing 
6 Dr. Darwin 
7 Lady Sale 
In this way the entire bed of tubers may be 
recorded, and their places tell their names, 
precisely in the way that a tulip book is kept, 
the rows being always counted across ; the 
number of tubers in the long rows only show 
how many rows there are in the bed. The 
drawers or boxes are to be made with seven 
partitions across, and these represent the rows, 
which should be numbered one, two, three, 
and so on. Perhaps the drawers made with 
ten rows are as handy as any ; the first drawer 
would be numbered one to ten, the second, 
eleven to twenty, the third from twenty-one 
to thirty, and so on ; this greatly facilitates 
the taking up and planting, and is infinitely 
better than bags. Independently of these, in 
the beds, there will be a stock of many sorts 
beyond the number required ; these should be 
in bags, and every time the best beds are 
taken up, a good many will be found to add 
to the surplus stock, because one good strong 
tuber in each place is enough. 
About August the top soil should be 
turned out of the beds intended for autumn 
planting, and laid in a ridge on each side, to 
be turned over several times before it is 
returned again to the bed, for the October 
operations ; while this is outside in ridges it 
may be mixed with one-fourth of its bulk 
of leaf-mould or cow-dung decayed into 
mould. In like manner the beds intended for 
the February planting may be turned out in 
November or December, but only to the 
depth of the top nine inches ; the other may 
be all loosened, and when this is returned to 
the bed in the first week in February, let 
there be a complete level drawn, about six 
inches below the surface, and on that put a 
layer of rotted cow-dung of an inch in 
thickness. The soil may then be filled in and 
be got ready for planting, as before directed; 
but it is to be understood that the cow-dung 
at the depth of six inches is to supply any 
deficiency of nourishment in the soil which may 
be occasioned by the blooming of the previous 
year ; and it has been found better than 
mixing the soil again the second season, 
because by the time the plants begin to feel 
the want of nourishment the roots will reach 
the dung. It has been said that the tubers 
ought not to come in contact with fresh dung, 
