112 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
f February 1 , 188*. 
larger and well drained. The compost I have found, after a long and 
painstaking experience, to be the most suitable is prepared by mixing 
two parts of light turfy loam, one part of fibrous peat, a moderate 
proportion of thoroughly decomposed cow manure, and a liberal quantity 
of silver or river sand. Some recommend burying the bulbs deep in 
the pots ; I think the advice is unsound. It is not necessary, in fact 
it is not desirable, to do more than bury the bulbs just below the surface. 
Use the soil in a rather rough state to enable the roots to run freely 
through it, and press it moderately firm. 
The point requiring the closest attention in transferring the plants 
to larger pots is the drainage. This must be perfect, for abundant 
supplies of water are necessary when they are growing freely, and 
unless the superfluous moisture can readily escape the soil will, in the 
course of time, become sour, and the plants assume an unhealthy 
appearance. A large quantity of crocks is not necessary, but they 
must be placed regularly over the bottom, and a layer of moss or some 
rough fibrous matter be placed over them to prevent the soil mixing 
with them. I feel assured if more attention were paid to securing an 
efficient drainage, and the bulbs buried just beneath the surface only, 
we should not meet with so many weakly examples or hear so much of 
the Eucharis not flowering freely. 
Those of the size above alluded to will require shifting on as fast as 
they fill the pots with roots, until they attain the specimen size or as 
large as the cultivator may require ; afterwards a shift once in two 
years will suffice. Some cultivators prefer feeding the plants to potting 
them every year, for fear they should fail to flower satisfactorily, unless 
they are root-bound. Under the system I recommend I have never 
found any difficulty in flowering these plants. The whole secret lies in 
a nutshell, so to speak. They should be encouraged to make vigorous 
growth, and then thoroughly mature it; afterwards subject them to a 
good season of rest. It will be admitted that all plants do better with 
soil in a healthy condition about their roots. If this really is 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 or so. 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. 
Afterwards arrange the plants in a close, moist atmosphere, where a 
night temperature of 70° can be maintained, with a rise by day of 5°, 
10°, or 15° from sun heat. If the old 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 
commence, and leaf growth should by every means be encouraged until 
developed and matured, when the plants maybe 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 
a id 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 completed by plunging them in 
strong bottom heat is useless, for the growth must finish before any 
flowers will be produced. Even when they are rested while the growth 
i; incomplete the flowers afterwards are small in comparison with those 
from plants properly grown and matured. 
No advantage is gained by using bottom heat for Eucharis, for they 
will not 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 
perisb. They will stand without injury in any cool house while at rest, 
provided 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 
i.i a temperature of 50° while endeavouring to keep them back. 
Some cultivators contend that a season of rest is unnecessary for the 
Eucharises, and adopt a system of cultivation that keeps them con¬ 
tinually growing. This I have thoroughly tested, and to obtain flowers 
successionally it 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 were discontinued, I think we 
should hear less of the disease amongst Eucharis 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 I notice 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 disease they only wanted a good season of 
rest, and would afterwards have grown again with the same vigour as 
formerly. 
For decoration purposes and for yielding flower’s in succession, 
plants grown in 7 and 8-inch pots are decidedly the best. Some grow a 
number of large specimens only, but this, I think, 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 serviceable. Large plants when well grown, and carrying 
from twenty to thirty spikes of bloom, are very beautiful I must admit. 
Eucharises do well when planted out in a bed prepared for them. When 
grown on this principle they are admirable for those that require a large 
quantity of bloom at one time. I also find they increase faster,and the 
bulbs attain flowering size much sooner ; but on the other hand, if 
flowers are wanted in regular succession the planting-out system does 
not prove the most satisfactory, but where it can be done I advise both 
ways of growing. Under the system of resting detailed the Eucharis 
can be flowered three times during the year, but in order to accomplish 
this no time can be lost. Some cultivators can flower them four times, 
but this only leaves three months for the plants to make their growth, 
rest, and come into flower. For one year they may be flowered four 
times within the twelve months, but this cannot be accomplished the 
second and succeeding years. While growing the plants require abun¬ 
dance of water at their roots and over their foliage, and even while at 
rest no attempt should be made to thoroughly dry them, for they are 
evergreen. Weak stimulants may be given almost every time they need 
water after the plants have exhausted the soil in which they are. 
growing, but feeding only will be needed during the last growth when 
potted annually. 
Thrips and red spider are sometimes troublesome, but can be kept 
down by a free use of the syringe. Mealy bug is another pest ; the best 
method of eradicating them is sponging with a weak solution of any 
insecticide recommended for the destruction of bug, &c. I suppose my 
paper will not be complete without saying a few words about the 
worst enemy of all, the Eucharis mite. In the last few years the Eucharis 
mite seems to have been putting growers to their wits’ ends, so to speak, 
to get rid of it. I have tried many ways, and the best I have found is to 
remove all the injured roots and scaly matter from both the base and 
neck of the bulbs ; then wash them thoroughly in a solution made by 
dissolving 2 ozs. of softsoap with a lump of so la as large as a nutmeg in 
a gallon of soft boiling water, stirring in briskly while still hot a small 
wineglassful of common petroleum such as is burned in lamps. When 
this cooled somewhat, but was still as hot as the hand can bear, dip the 
bulbs in it and rub the solution into every fissure with a soft brush. 
This mixture will destroy all mites that are reached. If the bulbs aTe 
left unpotted for a few days I find an advantage. Then place the bulbs 
in small, clean, well-drained pots of rather sandy turfy loam and peat, 
embedding them in and surrounding with crushed charcoal, plunging 
the pots in bottom heat if convenient. Keep the soil moderately moists 
but not wet, and fresh roots will, in all probability, be emitted. I may 
also say soot water is, I think, a preventive, and acts as a good stimulant, 
but it is not often made as it should be. The way I make it is this — 
one bushel of soot will make a strong liquid for 70 gallons. This is a 
simple way of making it, which should be taken advantage of. The 
drier and better the soot the greater the necessity for mixing it first 
with a little water into a stiff paste, just as if you were making fine lime 
plaster. Unless this be done no after care will enable you to make the 
soot and the water commingle. When the vessel is filled a broom is used 
to stir all together ; then a small spadeful of powdered quicklime is 
sprinkled over the surface, and the broom is used again. In twenty-four 
hours, with all this care, there will be a sooty scum on the surface, which 
it is desirable to remove just as you would take the cream off milk. 
Underneath, with the exception of the sediment at the bottom, the 
water will be as clear and bright as dark coloured sherry. At the above 
strength of a bushel to 70 gallons soot water is too strong for anything 
in pots A 1 out one-quarter to three-quarters of soft water is enough. 
