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222 
THE CULTIVATION OF THE AMARYLLIS FAMILY. 
beyond our inquiry. The power always at work in vegetation is truly wonderful; the development 
and progress of vegetable life ; the relations of the soil to the plant produced; the effects of light, heat, 
moisture, frost, and electricity; the nature of manures, them particular uses and results, may all be 
considered as mysteries at present in some measure unresolved. But from what we see in other parts 
of Nature which have been clearly revealed to our observation, it is but reasonable to conclude that 
what of these now appears mysterious to our unenlightened minds, is governed and regulated by laws 
as fixed and as certain as those which prevail in the other parts of the system of Nature with which 
we are acquainted. There is every reason to believe that the laws of vegetable and animal life, and 
growth, and nourishment, and decay, are equally well established, and equally invariable. 
In explai nin g to you the principles upon which vegetation is based, I shall begin with the seed, 
which contains within itself the fructifying principle—a concentration of vital matter stored up in the 
smallest compass, to be acted upon by agents essential to the development of vegetable existence. The 
seed possesses the inherent principle of producing each to its kind. The vital principle in the seed 
(deprived of the agents necessary for vegetation) would lay dormant for ages; but allow these agents 
access to the seed, and a change is produced : the first impulse is given to vegetation. No one or two 
of these agents will effect the change—either singly or combined ; the third must be admitted to con¬ 
tribute its share of the work. The three combined are all-powerful to produce a great change in the 
dormant seed. These three great agents are nothing more than a temperature above the freezing point 
of water, or 32° Fahrenheit; moisture ; and atmospheric air. 
While the seed remains dry, no change takes place in its texture; but when it is placed hi a situa¬ 
tion favourable for vegetating, it absorbs moisture, when the seed swells ; the germ, or first embryo, is 
seen to increase in size, and ultimately to burst the cuticle or seed-covering; the radicle, or rootlets, 
descend into the soil for food, and to give stability to the growing plant; while the plumule shoots 
upwards to develope or expand itself in the air. Every seed of nutritious fruits or vegetables contains 
within itself starch, gluten, sugar, and albumen. Thus we find that the seed which before germination 
was nearly tasteless has acquired a sweetness, and is partly soluble in water (a portion of the starch 
having been converted into sugar), and the gluten and albumen have also undergone a change. The 
soluble parts of the seed consist of gum and sugar, which form but a small portion of the whole mass ; 
the three remaining, gluten, starch, and albumen, are insoluble in cold water, hence the preservation of 
grain, and many garden crops. 
To carry on the vegetative process when water is absorbed by the seed, it is necessary that it should 
also absorb oxygen from the atmosphere. I have stated that the presence of moisture is indispensably 
necessary for the germination of all seeds. How it acts is thus explained :—It is by the absorption of 
moisture into its texture that the starch and other constituents of the seed are converted into the proper 
nourishment best fitted to supply the embryo plant. Starch, gluten, and albumen are insoluble hi cold 
water, but placed wit hin the influence of oxygen, the principal constituent of the atmosphere—as seeds 
will neither germinate in carbonic acid gas nor in hydrogen nor nitrogen gas, nor in all combined—by 
the absorption of the oxygen gas from the atmosphere, a portion of the carbon of the starch in the seed 
is converted into carbonic acid. This combination produces heat—a provision of nature to forward the 
germination of the seed. An example of this effect is afforded in the heat evolved in the process of malting. 
-f- 
THE CULTIVATION OF THE AMARYLLIS FAMILY.* 
ynifOSE bulbous plants which are comprised in collections under the name of Amaryllis, may be 
A grouped in sub-genera, or genera, very distinct as regards them cultivation, thus:— 
Stembergia (S. lutea). 
May be grown in the open ground, and is not injured except in very severe winters. 
Belladonna ( Amaryllis Belladonna). Zephyranthes (Am. advena , $c). Strumaria (Am. crispa, 8$c). 
Phycella (Bh. ignea , §c). Habranthus (Am. pratensis, 8$c). Nerine (Am. curvifolia, 8$c). 
May be grown in the open ground, or in pits or frames sheltered from the cold. They may also be covered 
with hand-glasses ; these as well as all other structures under which they are grown in the open ground, must be 
covered with mats or other protective material when the frost is intense. As soon as the weather becomes 
s uffi ciently fine, they may again be uncovered altogether. 
JST. B .—The Amaryllis (Zephyranthes) Atamasco, a native of Virginia, is the most hardy of the genus. It is, 
however, sometimes injured by frost when the winters are severe. 
Vailota (Am. purpurea'). Lycoris (Am. aured). Brunsvigia (B. Josephince , toxicaria , §c). 
Require a temperate greenhouse. * * 
Hippeastrum (Am. acuminata , aulica , calyptrata , equestris , fulgida , psittacina , reticulata , rutila, solandrceflora, 8$c. 
* By M. Lotus Van Houtte, Nurseryman, Ghent. From the Flore des Serves. 
