432 
PAPERS AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
degrees of frost, I remove them at that time 
into a shed which will keep out ten de- 
grees of frost, taking care to retain as much 
mould about their roots as possible, and to 
remove all their decayed leaves. In the shed 
they are planted in mould, keeping a space of 
about an inch between each head. In this 
state they are frequently looked over with 
care, their dead leaves removed, and those 
heads cut for present use which show any 
disposition to decay. When severe frost 
occurs, the plants are covered with dry short 
hay. By this management I have been able 
to send three dishes of cauliflowers to the 
table every week during the autumn and 
winter until February. — Letter by Jlr. G. 
CockJbum. 
[The heads of Brocoli or Cauliflower may 
be preserved for a long time in this way, 
if they are closely watched, so that decay does 
not commence in any and spread among the 
•rest : of course both they and the soil they are 
placed in are kept dry.] 
The CEixuii amabile . — When a small 
plant I sunk the pot in which it grew about 
two-thirds of its depth into a bed of sand in 
the stove. Underneath the pit, which is thus 
filled with sand to the depth of twelve inches, 
is a chamber extending the whole length of 
the pit, the air in the chamber being heated 
by a fire flue passing round it, by which 
means the sand is kept constantly warm. The 
pot in which the plant grows is sixteen inches j 
in diameter at the top, but the bottom is of 
smaller dimensions, and the depth is about 
equal to its upper diameter. Soon after the 
pot was plunged in the sand, the roots of the \ 
bulb found their way into the sand through 
the holes, as well as through a crack in the 
bottom of the pot, and have gradually ex- • 
tended themselves a considerable distance in 
it ; and to this circumstance I attribute its ; 
luxuriant growth. The pit is frequently 
watered, and it seems as if the moistened 
sand was peculiarly congenial to this bulb. 
In October it produced its first blossoms ; the 
next year it flowered three times, and the 
year after four times. The soil within the 
pot is a rich loam, mixed with a portion of 
vegetable mould and rotten dung. The house 
is generally kept in a brisk heat, and abun- 
dance of water is given to the plant, especially 
when it puts forth its blossom. The bulb in 
the thickest part, next the soil, is two feet 
three inches in circumference ; a considerable 
part of it grows above the surface of the 
earth, having a long extended stem or neck, 
which terminates at the top in a crown of 
leaves spreading elegantly in every direction, 
with the ends bending downwards ; the leaves 
are from four to five feet long, and from five 
to six inches wide in the broadest part ; their 
edges are smooth, and, when held up to the 
light, appear very regularly striated longi- 
tudinally. The flowering stem, or scape, 
breaks out from the neck of the bulb, below 
the leaves : it is compressed, not round, about 
three inches in circumference, grows generally 
three feet or more in length, and is slightly 
I tinged with colour. The umbel of flowers is 
at first enveloped in a slightly tinged green 
spathe, about eight inches long, which divides 
i into two parts, and becomes reflexed close to 
the scape, showing its inner surface, which is 
I very pale and shining. The flowers usually 
average above thirty ; they rise irregularly 
• from the flattened top of the scape, inter- 
| mixed with narrow bractese, which are from 
I three to four inches long, their inside being 
nearly white, and their backs keeled and 
stained with lake. Each separate flower has 
a peduncle about an inch and a half long, 
more or less speckled with the same colour as 
the rest of the flower, but duller, sometimes 
r it is nearly all green ; the gerniens are slightly 
swollen ; the tubes from four to five inches 
long, nearly cylindrical, and of a dull shining 
lake ; the backs of the lacinias, before they 
expand, exhibit the same colour as the tube, 
but more brilliant ; the lacinias, when ex- 
panded, are upwards of six inches long, lance- 
olate, and show their inner surface white, 
with a broad stripe of lake down the centre ; 
the filaments are purple, half the length of 
the lacinias ; the anthers, when open, are 
yellow ; the stigma is purple, and a little 
longer than the filaments. The whole bunch 
of flowers grows compactly together; but 
frequently extends two feet ; I have counted 
fourteen blossoms open at the same time, 
each of them a foot in expansion ; they are 
individually of short duration, the outside 
ones open first, and at that time those that 
are nearest the centre are in the state of 
buds of different sizes, but all smaller and 
shorter than the outer ones. No description 
can convey an adequate idea of the splendour 
of this magnificent plant, which possesses the 
additional charm of an agreeable fragrance in 
its blossoms. The colour has been variously 
described as rose, rosy-purple, and carmine ; 
but I think it is nearest to a lake. I have 
frequently impregnated the stigma with the . 
pollen of its own anthers ; but the germen 
constantly falls a short time after the flowers 
are withered. — From, a Letter by Mr. James 
Verrell. 
[Where there is the convenience of a stove 
there are few plants more worth cultivating 
than this species of Crinum, which has a 
noble aspect, and, when in flower 1 , fills the 
structure with a most delicious fragrance. It 
is very easily managed, requiring, as here 
describee 1 , rather liberal treatment.] 
