22 
COMPANION TO THE FLORAL MAGAZINE. 
improved, would assist to give a fine display during August and Septem¬ 
ber ; and, as tlieir cultivation is not attended with any great difficulty, 
I hope to see them more frequently introduced in pots for decorative 
purposes. 
For those who wish to give them a trial, I will endeavour to explain 
the system I have adopted, and having found it tolerably successful, it 
may be of service, and I hope enable many to grow this splendid flower 
satisfactorily. 
Some time during February or early in March, I pot good sound bulbs, 
one in a 48-sized pot; when a sufficient number is potted, I then plunge 
them in coal ashes in a cool frame, giving all the air possible, and only 
protecting them from heavy storms and frost. 
By the beginning or middle of May, they begin to show themselves 
above the surface of the soil. I still allow them to remain in the frame 
until the first or second week in June. I repot into a 24 or 16 pot; one 
bulb in a pot is quite sufficient, as I find they like plenty of pot room; if 
two or three bulbs are put into a pot, they seldom all bloom together, 
and the appearance is not pleasing, as probably one spike will be fading 
just as another is opening, giving an untidy appearance. The soil I use 
is two parts turfy loam, one part peat, and one part well-rotten manure, 
with a small quantity of silver sand to keep the soil porous, paying good 
attention to the well-drainage of the pots. They are impatient of heavy 
rains ; either being allowed to be too wet or too dry will cause the foliage 
to be disfigured, therefore care should be taken in this respect to give 
them sufficient w r ater, but not to overdose them. I usually stand them 
out-of-doors on a bed of ashes after the final shift, allowing them to have 
full influence of sun and air; but I think if kept entirely under glass 
in a cool airy house, they would not be so liable to diseased foliage, as 
no doubt this is caused in great measure by sudden changes in the at¬ 
mosphere; last season, in our damp locality, in the beds out-of-doors 
scarcely a plant escaped, whereas those under glass did not appear to 
suffer to any great extent. 
As soon as they begin to show the flower spikes, I introduce them into 
the greenhouse, and usually have a fine display of bloom from the mid¬ 
dle of August to the middle of October. I have found the following the 
most easily cultivated, never failing to produce good spikes of bloom as 
well as keeping the foliage in good condition :— 
Acliille. 
Calendulaceus. 
Canari. 
Courantii fulgens. 
Don Juan. 
Endymion. 
Galatkee. 
Goliath. 
Janire. 
La Quintinie. 
Madam Haquin. 
Fanny Eouget. 
Monsieur Yinckon, 
Napoleon III. 
Neptune. 
Ophir. 
Pellonia. 
Premices de Montrouge. 
Sulphureus. 
Triomplie d’Enghien. 
Yesta. 
Vulcain. 
