184 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[December, 
bottom of this should be well below the level 
of the ground, and it should be filled up with 
about 1 foot in depth of fine river silt or sandy 
loam, the surface of which should be a little 
below the level of the surface of the ground 
adjacent to the pit. Proper drainage is 
essential, but this being attained, Crocuses 
during their period of growth delight in a 
uniformly moist subsoil. It is convenient to 
separate each species by strips of slate or 
tiles, which may be buried below the surface, 
and the conns planted about 3 inches deep. 
A mulching of rotted cocoa-nut fibre or finely- 
sifted peat keeps the surface uniformly moist, 
and prevents the substratum of loam from 
clogging or caking on the surface. At the 
time of the maturity of the foliage, which 
generally takes place about the end of May, 
water should be withheld, and the Crocus bed 
covered up and allowed to get quite dry, till 
the end of July, when a copious watering may 
be given, or the pit exposed to natural rainfall. 
Crocuses are easily multiplied by seed, 
which should be sown as soon as ripe in July, 
though germination will not take place till 
the natural growing period of the species. 
Seedlings take from two to three years to 
arrive at maturity, and should be left for the 
first two years undisturbed in the seed bed, 
and then taken up and replanted. 
Of the earlier autumnal species suitable for 
the open border, the following may be enume¬ 
rated for successional flowering :— 
C. Scliarojani, orange ; early in August. 
„ vallicola, straw-coloured; late in August and 
early in September. 
„ nudiflorus, blue ; September. 
„ pulchellus, lilac; September and October. 
„ speciosus, blue ; September and October. 
„ iridiflorus, blue ; September and October. 
asturicu^ 1 1 lila ° or blue i October and 
” Clusii j November. 
„ cancellatus ) 
„ Cambessedesii > In the late autumn. 
,, hadriaticus ) 
These are succeeded by a long series of late 
autumnal, winter, and early vernal species, 
which are best grown to advantage under the 
protection of a brick pit. 
Of the vernal species suitable for the border 
the earliest is C. Imperati, flowering in Feb¬ 
ruary, followed by :— 
C. susianus, or Cloth of Gold, in February, 
biflorus 
corsicus 
etruscus 
suaveolens 
versicolor 
Flowering 
from the end 
of February 
to the first 
week in April. 
Flowering 
from the end 
of February 
to tbe first 
week in 
April. 
Of the Croci, but recently introduced, many 
more of the vernal species will probably be 
found suitable for spring garden decoration, 
but in the above lists we give those only which 
are more generally known and easily obtainable. 
Holland, with its rich, light alluvial soil, 
and Lincolnshire, with its “Trent warp,” have 
been for many generations the sources from 
which the English market has been supplied 
with the varieties of the three or four species 
grown in English gardens. The last five or 
six years have put us in possession of five- 
sixths of the known species of the genus, and 
we must commend them to the care of the 
Dutch and Lincolnshire bulb growers in order 
further to enrich our collections. 
jfFlATE is a South American beverage pre¬ 
pared from the leaves of Ilex parac/uayensis, 
and takes the place of Chinese Tea. In the 
preparation of Mate proper, the leaves are 
dried, or roasted in cast-iron pans set in 
brick-work and heated by fires underneath ; 
when the leaves are sufficiently heated they 
are pounded until reduced to powder, and then 
packed in bags. There are three qualities known in 
the South American markets. The best is said to be 
prepared from the youDg leaves when they are about 
half expanded from the bud, and is called caa-cuys. 
The second consi-ts of the full-grown leaves, care¬ 
fully picked and separated from twig*, and frequently 
the midrib and veins of the leaves are removed; this 
is called caa-mira. The third is made from older 
leave*, carelessly broken up with the small branches 
and leaf-stalk*, all of which undergo the roasting 
and pounding process together; this is called caa- 
gnaza. The leaves are also collected and dried in a 
similar manner to that adopted in the preparation of 
Chinese tea; this is called Mate in leaf, and is pre¬ 
pared for use by infusion, and taken with milk and 
sugar in the sane way as ordinary tea. Mate in 
powder is al-o prepared by infusion, by putting into 
a small vessel about an ouuce of the pow'der, and 
pouring boiling water over it; as the fine dust does 
not fall to the bottom, but remains suspended in the 
water, the Mate is taken by means of a sucker, that 
is, a tube terminating in a small hollow ball pierced 
with very fine holes. Mate contain* nearly double 
the quantity of theine that the same weight of 
grains of coffee contains, and about the same quantity 
as tea leaves. The Brazilians recommend Mate as a 
nourishing, warm, aromatic, stimulating, and very 
cheap beverage. 
C. vernus 
„ Tommasinianus 
„ dalmaticus 
„ banaticus 
„ Sieberi and var. versicolor 
„ chrysanthus 
„ aureus 
„ sulphureus 
„ sulphureus pallidus and 
stria tus 
„ stellaris 
„ Olivieri 
„ minimus 
„ Balansae 
