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THE LADIES’ MAGAZINE OF GARDENING. 
roots, and pot them singly into small pots, in a mixture of soil composed 
of four parts of very rotten leaf-mould, two parts light loam, and one 
part silver sand. When potted, again place them in the hotbed; and as 
soon as the roots appear at the sides of the pot, shift them into one a size 
larger, and replace them in the hotbed ; in a short time they will require 
to be repotted a third and last time, after which they may be placed in 
the greenhouse to flower. 
I have at times turned some of these plants out into the open border, 
where they have flowered very well; and I have no doubt, in a good soil 
and situation, they would do well in beds: but this must not be done 
until they are several inches high. 
I deem it essentially necessary that the plants should grow an inch or 
two before they are potted the first time, though this is contrary to the 
general practice. 
Tottenham, 
January 30, 1841. 
THE HISTORY OF THE CROCUS. 
BY THE EDITOR. 
Linnaeus considered all the different kinds of Crocus to belong to one 
species, which he called Crocus sativus; Willdenow, however, who 
revised Linnaeus’s great work about sixty years after its first appearance, 
(in 1737) divided the Crocuses into two species, viz. the autumn-flowering 
ones, which he considered as varieties of C. sativus, and the spring ones, 
which he called varieties of C. vernus. Since his time, many other 
species have been found; but the grand division of spring and autumn 
flowering Crocuses still remains. 
The true spring Crocus, C. vernus, is a native of Britain, particularly 
in the meadows about Nottingham. The leaves appear first, but they 
are only very short till the flowers decay, after which they gradually 
elongate. There are fourteen or fifteen varieties of this species, some of 
which are very handsome, but all retain the peculiarities of the parent, 
viz. a short thick tube, much shorter than the limb, and a somewhat egg- 
shaped, declining flower, which never opens fully. 
Crocus versicolor is another species of which there are several varieties. 
It differs widely from C. vernus, being a little, widely-opened flower, the 
tube of which is nearly as long as the limb. Most of the varieties of this 
species have their flowers striped with reddish lilac ; and they have all a 
sweet scent. Notwithstanding the small size and dwarf stature of the 
