December 1. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
157 
next to this adopted line—this favourite depth—a re¬ 
gular pan, almost as impenetrable as a layer of sheet- 
iron, exists, bidding utter defiance to depth of rooting. 
The despicable results of this practice may be plainly 
seen in the blueness of the foliage of such things as 
Swedes, and the general flagging, or drooping, of all 
crops, except corn, after the occurrence of only three 
or four days of a hot July sun. Unfortunate crops! 
they would, if permitted , throw down deep radicles, 
which would soon prevent this flagging—this standing 
still, or worse—when they should be progressing the 
most. 
Enough of this. I will now point to some appli¬ 
ances previously hinted at. I before spoke of the possi¬ 
bility of bringing even sand up, with advantage, on some 
stubborn soils, but how seldom do we see that or any other 
attempt at improving texture by such means. I much 
fear that fashion rules here, as in most other things; 
science is powerful, but it is to he feared that she would 
but “drag her slow length along” without the aid of 
fashion. Every body will admit that science projected, 
completed, and furnished the Crystal Palace, but where 
would science have been without the overwhelming 
influence of fashion? And it is partly so with many 
gardening procedures; be the suggester ever so right in 
his views, the thing is thrown aside as butter paper, 
until somebody, high in position, who acts as a sort of 
fugleman in society, takes it up, carries it out regardless 
of expense, and sets all the world staring at him. The 
practice of clay-burning has never, I believe, been 
fairly condemned on principle; but whatever may be 
the case agriculturally, there are garden cases where it 
would, doubtless, be beneficial. But then there are 
such things as lime rubbish, and the finer debris of old 
buildings, lime itself, and anything charred, which 
was once of organic character. 
These are the economic materials I alluded to, and 
every body can get them; but I would direct special 
attention to the use of lime in old and deadened soils, 
especially those which have, as gardeners sometimes 
say, been “ mucked, and dug, and cropped, until they 
are sick of it.” Such soils, of necessity, contain a super¬ 
abundance of manures, or the dark residue of organic 
matter, applied constantly in the act of cropping for 
gross vegetables, in the shape of the various manures, 
leaf soil, &c. 
But it is impossible to overrate the importance of 
charring every stick and weed, by system, that hands 
can be laid on. I say by system, for I would not have 
it understood that I wish people to be always charring. 
No; we must have simpler and less expensive plans. 
! Twice a year I find sufficient, viz., March and October. 
The former month will be furnished with all the prun- 
j ings, dubbings, and general charring of the past winter, 
' or rest season; and the latter will consume vegetable 
| remains, weeds, with their seeds, &c. 
Here, then, is a double action; seeds, aye, and insects, 
1 destroyed in myriads; a famous compost provided, and 
a system of cleanly culture promoted. 
Deep trenching, at set periods, and for particular 
: crops, and the application of corrective materials, will 
be found, on trial, to make old kitchen gardens look 
young again. R. Errtngton. 
BULBS. 
(Concluded from paije 09.) 
SPREKELIA. 
This genus is inadvertently said to be of stove bulbs 
in our Dictionary', but all of them that we know of yet 
are as hardy and as easy to flower as the Vallota pur- 
j purea. The old Amaryllis formosissima, that used to 
flower twice a-year with us, in the pine-stove at Altyre, 
thirty years ago, is just as hardy as Red Onions. The 
Bolivian Cybisters require only the frost to be kept 
from them; and Glauca, from Mexico, is only another 
form or variety of the Jacobaea Lily, from Guatemala, 
and is quite as hardy. There is another one, called 
Cinnabarina, which flowered at Spofforth with Dr. Her¬ 
bert, but I never saw it, nor even know where it came 
from, or if it was published. That the new kinds, which 
were introduced twelve or fifteen years back, were treated 
as stove bulbs, I can readily believe, for I have seen 
hardy bulbs that ought to have been out in the borders 
kept in a hot stove, this very season, by a first-rate 
gardener; and I know, from long experience, that nine- 
tenths of all the gardeners ruin their bulbs by too much 
heat. 
Sprekelia formosissima, or the old Jacobaea Lily, is 
the only bulb that I can call to mind that will grow as 
well in the stove, year after year, as it will do out-of- 
doors. The constitution of this bulb is unsearchable. 
SPREKELIA CYBISTER. 
Here is a living example of how bulbs are often—too 
often, indeed—mistreated. This bulb was introduced 
from Bolivia, which you may call the Balmoral of Peru, 
i only that it is in the south-west of the highlands, instead 
of being, as our Balmoral is, in the south-east; and, 
as a matter of course, it must have strong heat in 
London, and then it would not flower, and likely 
enough it would soon have been lost, but an American 
gentleman (begging his pardon) who was over here, 
took a fancy to it, and bought several of the batch, 
thinking, no doubt, he could flower it before the Lon¬ 
doners; whether he did, or not, I know not, but the 
year after he sent back one of the bulbs to Dr. Herbert, 
who understood what it was the moment he saw it, and 
he found no difficulty whatever in flowering it. Cybister 
is the oddest-looking flower among the Amaryllids; the 
flower hangs down in front, like that of formosissima; 
the lower part of it, or lip, keeps the drooping posture, 
while the rest of the sepals or petals wave a good deal, 
and spread outwards and upwards, as if endeavouring 
to regain the upright position which it held when in 
bud. At first, the flower-bud stands erect, but when 
opening, it “ tumbles down ” to the drooping posture,— 
from this peculiarity the plant has been named “the 
tumbler," which is the meaning of cybister. The Tumbler 
produces four flowers on a scape; the colour is of three 
shades—blood-red at bottom, and lighter red, with a 
greenish tinge above. It is a native of Bolivia, and 
was introduced in 1838 or 1839. 
SPREKELIA CYBISTER var. BREVIS. 
About the same time (1840) that Dr. Herbert flowered 
the Tumbler, Mr. Knight, of the King’s Road, flowered 
another bulb from the batch of Bolivian bulbs, which, 
on being compared to the Tumbler, was found to be only 
a variety of it with shorter flowers. To show how 
nearly these Tumblers bring Sprekelia to Hippeaster, and 
to raise the question, Will the two unite by crossing? I 
may state, that Dr. Lindley, before he was aware of the 
existence of the real Tumbler, had named this short- 
flowered variety of it from Mr. Knight, Hippeastrum 
anomalum; 1 believe, however, that he has given up 
that name in favour of the lesser Tumbler; and I further 
believe, that if Tumblers will breed with Hippeasters, 
that the old If. aulicum would be as good as any to try 
the experiment on; and also, that if a cross is obtained, 
the seedlings will be more hardy than seedlings of 
Aulicum and Vittatum, or, at least, fully as hardy. 
There is a mystery about the old Jacobtea Lily, or 
Sprekelia formosissima, which we shall never fathom, 
but it tends to increase the chances of uniting the breed 
with Hippeasters. We know that the old formosissima 
