March G, 1884 ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
191 
My friend Mr. Thomson of Drumlanrig has all along taken a lively 
interest in the culture of the East Lothian Stock, and in him I have always 
found a warm sympathiser with my humble labours in this department of 
floriculture, as well as an enthusiastic admirer of this charming and 
valuable class of pot and bedding plants.— Thomas Campbell, The 
Asylum Gardens, Melrose. 
CRINUMS. 
Continuing my notes upon these plants from page 173, the 
following species are worth attention. 
C. Careycmum. —Under the names C. Moorei, C. Macowani, 
C. Mackenii, C. Makoyanum, and C. ornatum what appear to 
be but slight varieties of one species are known in gardens. 
Botanically four of these should be distinct species ; but so far 
as I have been able to ascertain the plants cultivated as such in 
gardens are wrongly named, being all of them forms of C. 
Moorei. The true C. Careyanum has a round short-necked bulb, 
and bears from six to ten leaves about 18 inches long, and a 
scape a foot high, bearing flowers about 4 inches in diameter 
with pale red-tinted segments. It is a native of Mauritius, and 
therefore requires stove treatment. 
C. Moorei. —A well-known garden favourite, and is one of the 
finest of greenhouse bulbous plants. It is established out of 
doors in several gardens in this country and at Glasnevin. At 
Kew last year several plants growing in a sheltered border 
produced an abundance of flowers throughout the summer. 
This is the plant to which most of those under the name Carey¬ 
anum, etc., in gardens really belong. In colour the flowers vary 
from almost pure white to deep rose. It is a native of Natal. 
By crossing tbis with some of the strong-growing many-flowered 
species some good results would most likely be obtained. 
C. Commelyni. —Bulb 2 inches in diameter, short-necked, and 
bearing leaves 18 inches long and very narrow. The flower stalk 
is nearly a foot in length, and bears an umbel of four or five 
flowers, which are about 6 inches long, the segments being 
narrow and purple on the under side. A native of Para. 
C. erubescens. —A common plant in tropical America, and long 
known in gardens here. It has an egg-shaped bulb with a short 
neck, and bears a large number of long narrow leaves, which 
terminate each in a long point. The flowers are borne in umbels 
of about half a dozen on stalks nearly 2 feet long, and are white 
or tinted with purple. There are several varieties of this species. 
It is a summer-flowering plant, and thrives in an ordinary green¬ 
house temperature. 
C. giganteum. —A lai*ge-bulbed long necked species, similar in 
habit to C. amabile. The flowers are produced on long-stalked 
umbels, varying in number from six to twelve in each umbel. 
They are pure white, and measure sometimes almost a foot in 
length, the segments being over an inch wide and lapping over 
each other similar to an Amaryllis flower. A delicious fragrance, 
good substance, and large size combine to make this Crinurn 
one. of the finest for large houses. It is a native of tropical 
Africa, and requires stove treatment and plenty of water during 
the greater part of the year. It flowers in summer. 
(J. latifolium. —A tropical, v.ater-loving plant; and, moreover, 
is a somewhat variable species. The bulb is large, has no 
distinct neck, and bears numerous leaves, which are from 
2 to 3 feet long. The flower stalk, which is produced from 
the side of the bulb, is about 18 inches in length, and bears 
about a score of white flowers, which are tinted with red. In 
form these flowers resemble those of the last-mentioned, but are 
not quite so large. A native of the warmer parts of India. 
C. pedunculatum. —A large, thick-necked, and, for the size of 
the plant, small-bulbed Crinurn, somewhat like C. amabile and 
several other large kinds. The flowers are pure white, and are 
produced in summer. At Kew it may be seen represented by 
several fine specimens which flower every year. A native of 
South Australia, and may be grown in a warm greenhouse. 
C. scabrum. —A large-growing sort, with very lung leaves, and 
flowers white striped with red, and very fragrant. One of the 
most beautiful species, and is a fi-ee grower and flowerer, pro¬ 
ducing about half a dozen flowers in an umbel several times 
during the summer months. 
C. zeylanicum. —A large-bulbed species, with a short attenuated 
neck and leaves of a thin texture, which grow almost horizon¬ 
tally. The flowers are arranged in umbels of from twelve to 
twenty, and droop over, so that the apex of their almost tubular 
limb or overlapping segments looks downwards These segments 
are white, with a broad band of red along each side. The flowers 
are very sweet-scented, and are borne during the winter. 
C. Kirkii .—Similar in every point to the above. These about 
complete the list of garden kinds; a number of rare ones such 
as C. Hildebrandtii, C. Balfourii, C. defixum, and others grown 
at Kew being as yet beyond the reach of horticulture. It will 
be seen from the characters of those above described that there 
is a wide range of variation in Crinums, and if the distinct and 
large-flowered characters of some of the unintroduced kinds be 
considered, the value of the genus for garden purposes will bo 
evident enough. 
The cultivation of Crinums may be stated generally to consist 
of treatment usually adopted for bulbous plants. They all like 
water when growing, and those that do not lose their foliage for 
a portion of the year should never be dried off. The deciduous 
ones, of course, must be kept dry until they show signs of 
starting into growth again. A strong clayey loam, well drained, 
and mixed with wood ashes or crushed bones, is perhaps the 
most suitable soil for all Crinums They should be potted 
firmly in pots of large enough dimensions to admit of their 
roots spreading somewhat. They require plenty of light. The 
most favourable time to repot them is directly after they have 
flowered. 
For out-of-door species deep planting in a rich well-drained 
border, with protection from exceptionally severe weather, is all 
that the bulbs require. The fruits of Crinums resemble Oak 
apples in shape and size, and if placed in a warm dry atmo¬ 
sphere they will produce a bulb without the aid of either soil or 
moisture. I have had a fruit standing on a shelf near the fire¬ 
place where the atmosphere is always dry, and this produced a 
fine bulb in the course of about two months. The development 
of this bulb is very interesting and is one of those singular 
instances of metamorphic vegetation which in the fruits of 
Amaryllids are of not unfrequent occurrence.—W. W. 
AN EXPERIMENT WITH POTATO MANURES. 
Last year I experimented on a Potato plot with a series of 
manures, employed both singly as well as in combination. The 
experiment was undertaken to satisfy myself on s >me moot 
points raised in the Journal as well as in other publications, 
and though the extremely dry weather during six weeks of the 
summer rendered some of the experiments nugatory, they were 
on the whole extremely interesting and satisfactory. With some 
special manures, about twenty-four separate manures or com¬ 
binations of manures were tried. Those which the drought 
hindered me from carrying out were a series in which pctassic. 
and phosphatic manures were applied when the crop was planted, 
it having been intended to add sulphate of ammonia and nitrate 
of soda at a certain stage of the Potato growth, and to mark the 
effect as compared with compounds in which the latter two agents 
were included and distributed when the Potatoes were planted. 
When rain did come growth was too far advanced to apply these 
nitrogenous bases. 
I may explain that our soil is what is termed “light,” but 
through long cultivation it has been brought into a good con¬ 
dition. Farmyard manure is freely employed, though we gene¬ 
rally take three crops for one application of rnanue. I wanted 
to find out how far “ artificial ” manures benefited Potatoes on 
our soil; which was the best form in which to employ potash 
thereon; and the combination which gave the largest crop. It 
is not necessary to go into the whole experiments in detail, it wil. 
be of more interest to show how the largest ci-op was obtained, 
