42 
THE FLOEIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ February, 
by offsets from the roots, wbicli if planted in small pots filled witb the above 
compost and put into a moderate bottom-beat will soon commence growing, and 
with care and attention make nice flowering-plants. As they continue growing 
at all seasons of the year when kept in a stove, they should not be dried off, as 
that would cause the loss of the fibrous roots, and thus weaken the bulbs. They 
will succeed best if kept growing steadily on, watering them when necessary, and 
shifting then into larger pots as they require it.—M. Saul, Stourton. 
The Pancratiums and their close allies, the species of Hymenocallis^ are 
exceedingly beautiful bulbous plants, requiring stove-heat. We take the oppor¬ 
tunity to introduce a figure, kindly lent to us by Mr. Bull, of Pancratium rotatum^ 
a species referred by some botanists to the group HymenocalUs. It has stoutish 
bulbs, lorate leaves, and umbels of 9-12 showy white flowers, the perianth seg¬ 
ments of which are three to four inches long, and the funnel-shaped crown 
upwards of an inch in diameter. The flowers have the further recommendation 
of being deliciously fragrant, and they are extremely valuable in the composition 
of bouquets.—^E d. 
KEMAKKS ON ORCHAED-HOUSE CULTURE. 
jN the Floeist and Pomologist (p. 2) there are some remarks on Orchard-house 
trees. Mr. M. Temple there recommends planting the trees out; and the 
Editor very properly limits the recommendation to stone-fruits. There is 
a good-sized house at Loxford Hall, and my experience with all sorts of 
fruit-trees, except Cherries, has extended over a period of nearly ten years. 
There is a great deal of labour expended on watering the trees—all of which are 
in pots—at the busiest season of the year, and when water has been scarce, and 
our labour-power taxed to the uttermost, one is often tempted to wish that the 
trees had been planted out. But the most serious obstacle in the way of this is, 
that the house must then be almost entirely devoted to the trees ; a few flowering 
plants might be introduced amongst them, but not to any advantage. 
As to having portable houses, if this can be managed without an annual 
expense for skilled labour, it would be a great boon. None of the Orchard- 
houses that I have seen are portable, and probably but a very small per-centage 
of the erections in the United Kingdom. And that being the case, we must do 
the very best we can with the houses as they are. All the trees that we have 
are grown in pots. The largest used are 15 in. diameter, inside measure ; 17-in. 
pots were tried, but they were found too heavy for one man to move, and the 
advantage gained was not compensated by the extra labour. 
The annual round of orchard-house culture, as practised at Loxford Hall, may 
be summarised in a very few words. The trees were taken into the house on the 
first day of the year, the Peaches and Nectarines, at least; Pears and Plums are 
still out-of-doors. The pots are pretty well saturated with water, and unless it 
is necessary to apply artificial heat to keep out frost, they will not require any 
water for three weeks or more. We have not room to get in the Pear and Plum 
