September 24, 1885. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
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COMING EVENTS 
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Sale of Bulbs at Protheroe’s Booms, Cheapside, 
Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity. 
Sale of Bulbs at Stevens’ Booms, Covent Garden. 
EUCHARIS GRANDIFLORA. 
MONGST choice plants there are few that in 
beauty and sweetness can surpass the Eucharis. 
No stove should be without them, for the flowers 
are always welcome, and with a few dozens of 
bulbs it is not difficult to maintain a regular 
supply. They are welcome in summer, but 
doubly so in winter, at which time they can 
be produced as readily as when flowers are 
plentiful everywhere. 
The Eucharis is easily propagated by division, and those 
in possession of a few plants can add to their stock consider¬ 
ably in a very short time. Each strong flowering bulb will 
produce three or four in a season, which can be taken off 
and grown on separately or together. When it is necessary 
to increase the stock we do not see the wisdom of removing 
the small bulbs from those that have produced them, for 
they grow more rapidly attached to the parent. They should 
be grown on together until a number of large bulbs have 
been produced, when they may be divided and the small 
ones potted singly. 
Potting may be done at almost any season of the year 
with equal success, but we do not advise the carrying out of 
this operation during November and December, when the 
days are very short and growth naturally slow. It should be 
done annually if the plants are to be retained in health and 
vigour, not necessarily the whole at the same time, but 
successionally as they go out of flower. It is a mistake to 
subject the whole to the same treatment at one time, for they 
must be pushed into active growth afterwards, which would 
be the means of bringing the whole of them into a 
flowering condition about the same time. Some cultivators 
prefer feeding the plants to potting them every year, for fear 
they should fail to flower satisfactorily, unless they are 
thoroughly root-bound. Under the system we recommend we 
have never found any difficulty in flowering these plants. 
The secret is to encourage vigorous growth and then thoroughly 
mature it, afterwards subjecting them to a good season 
of rest. It will be admitted that all plants do better with 
soil in a sweet healthy condition about their roots, and if 
this is really the case then it is wrong to keep the Eucharis 
in the same pots for a number of years. However good the 
soil may be at the commencement, it becomes sour and 
exhausted after it has been in the pots for a year. 
The Eucharis is not a deep-rooting plant, therefore the 
pots employed need not be large in proportion to the number 
of bulbs grown in them. For instance, a 5 or 6-inch pot will 
be large enough for three or four strong bulbs. Potting is 
best done directly after the plants have flowered, and the soil 
wo have found most suitable is good fibry loam, one-seventh 
of cow manure, the same quantity of charcoal, one 6-inch potful 
of soot to each barrowful of soil, and a liberal dash of coarse 
sand. Press the soil as firmly as possible into the pots. 
Afterwards arrange the plants in a close moist atmosphere 
where a night temperature of 70° can be maintained, with a 
rise by day of 6°, 10°, or even 15° from sun heat. If the old 
No. 274.— Vol. XI., Third Series, 
soil has been shaken from the roots the foliage must be well 
syringed until root-action commences. It is much better to 
syringe frequently than to supply water for some time after 
potting. 
In the temperature indicated root-action will soon com¬ 
mence, and leaf growth should by every means be dis¬ 
couraged until developed and matured, when the plants may 
be gradually dried at their roots and removed judiciously 
from the warm to cooler quarters to rest. Nothing is gained 
by removing them before the foliage is fully developed and 
growth brought to a complete standstill, for they will not 
flower unless the bulbs are thoroughly matured. To attempt 
to bring them into flower when growth is only half com¬ 
pleted by plunging them in strong bottom heat is useless, for 
the growth must be finished before any flowers will be pro¬ 
duced. Even when they are rested while the growth is 
incomplete, the flowers afterwards are small in comparison 
to those from plants properly grown and matured. No 
advantage is gained by using bottom heat for Eucharises, for 
they will not come into flower any earlier or grow any better 
than in the temperature named. 
The season of rest and the treatment the plants then 
receive are of vital importance to successful cultivation. When 
growth is completed keep the soil moderately dry before they 
are removed from a stove temperature, and this must not be 
done suddenly but gradually, or the roots instead of being 
healthy after they have been rested will perish. They will 
stand without injury in any cool house while at rest, pro¬ 
vided too much air is not admitted and cold draughts do 
not strike directly upon them. Very little water will be 
needed while in this condition ; in fact, no more should be 
given than is sufficient to keep the foliage from flagging. 
Two or three weeks’ rest in a cool house is ample if they 
are wanted in flower; if not, it may be extended to six 
weeks. On several occasions I have had plants that have 
been properly matured before resting push up their flower 
stems with great strength in a temperature of 50° while 
endeavouring to keep them back. 
Some cultivators contend that a season of rest is unneces¬ 
sary for Eucharises, and adopt a system of cultivation 
that keeps them continually growing. This has. been 
thoroughly tested, and for yielding flowers successionally 
should not be practised. For a time the plants will do very 
well, but no certainty can be placed upon the period they will 
flower. In all probability a number of them may turn in at 
a time when they are least wanted. If this was discontinued 
we should hear less of the disease amongst Eucharises than 
has been the case lately. Under the non-resting principle 
the plants exhaust themselves in time, and cannot be induced 
to grow by any means, and the conclusion arrived at in more 
instances than one is that some disease has attacked them, 
and they are conveyed to the rubbish heap. This is no 
mere conjecture, but has been proved to be the case, and 
instead of the plants succumbing to some disease they only 
wanted a good season of rest, and would afterwards have 
grown again with the same vigour as formerly. 
There can be no question that for purposes of decoration 
and for yielding flowers in succession, plants grown in 
5 to 7-inch pots are decidedly the best. Some cultivators 
grow a number of large specimens only, but this is not the best 
method to maintain a supply. House room is often limited, 
and no more can usually be accommodated than are really 
necessary to supply the flowers demanded; therefore, these 
plants grown in the pots named have proved the most ser¬ 
viceable. Large plants when well grown, and carrying from 
twenty to thirty spikes of bloom, are very beautiful. 
Eucharises do wonderfully well when planted out in a bed 
prepared for them, and when grown on this principle are 
admirable for those that require a large quantity of bloom at 
one time. But when the flowers are wanted in regular suc¬ 
cession the planting-out system does not prove the most 
satisfactory. 
No. 1930.— Vol. LXXIII., Old Series. 
