Jan. 24th, 1885. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
325 
vastly extended, and not merely in a few market 
gardens in the suburbs of the metropolis, as in the 
days of old, when the transmission of such commo¬ 
dities was almost out of the question, and, I may say, 
commercially, was not so widely or fully recognized. 
The sorts enumerated by your numerous correspon¬ 
dents are all good, the only question being to obtain 
them true, and to have all conditions with reference 
to soil, season, &c., alike favourable.— G. F. 
EUCHARIS AMAZONICA. 
So much has been written from time to time on the 
cultivation of this lovely stove plant that one would 
think anything further on the subject would be 
superfluous. Yet, in spite of all that has been 
written, how very seldom do we find it growing and 
flowering in a thoroughly satisfactory manner, even 
in moderately large establishments, where all other 
things that are grown are done well. Why is this ? 
a cooler and drier atmosphere to cause a thorough 
maturation of the bulbs? I remember that some 
years ago, when I obtained my first situation as a 
head gardener, I found on the place three pots of 
Eucharis, speaking from memory, about 9 ins. in 
diameter, which looked as though they had not been 
re-potted for some years. The soil was sour about 
them, the drainage had filled up, and they had not a 
healthy leaf on them. In February, the month after 
I took charge, I shook them out, sorted the bulbs 
into three sizes, and potted them in a mixture of 
good fibrous loam, leaf-mould, well-rotted stable 
manure, and a good deal of sharp silver sand, as they 
like an open compost. I then plunged them in a 
pit with a bottom heat of about G5 degs., and a top 
heat of about 70 degs. to 75 degs. I kept them 
rather closely shaded for the first few weeks, and 
they soon began to grow, and throw up fine healthy 
leaves. 
After they had made a good start in the new 
of the conservatory, in which they stand very well 
if of an intermediate temperature, we find them 
invaluable.— W. C. 
—— 
FLOWERS AT HOLLOWAY. 
The noble conservatory at the foot of llighgate 
Hill, which forms the frontage of Mr. B. S. Williams’s 
extensive nursery, is particularly gay just now with 
all the flowers in season. Amongst these, Mr. Wil¬ 
liams’s fine strains of Primula and Cyclamen figure 
most conspicuously, the latter especially being well 
done. Those who remember the generally rough and 
ragged character of the Persian Cyclamen as shown 
some twenty years ago, before Mr. Wiggins, then of 
Isleworth, witched the floral world with his neat, 
compact, and well-flowered specimens, will not need 
to be told what a vast stride has been made in the 
cultivation of this plant since then, especially among 
growers for market and for the nursery trade. They 
CYCLAMEN PEESIC0M. 
Well, in nine cases out of ten, I believe, it is through 
keeping them too much pot-bound. Their appears 
to be a general belief among gardeners that to pot a 
Eucharis is next thing to killing it, or to so disable it 
that it will not flower for some time afterwards ; but, 
in my opinion, a greater error cannot be made than to 
keep ihis superior plant, as some do, in the same 
pots year after year. I have tried them both ways, 
and have always obtained the best results from 
shaking them out and re-potting them at least every 
two years. 
I wonder if those who advocate the pot-bound 
system, on the ground that the plants flower more freely, 
have ever made a calculation of the number Of bulbs 
in a pot, or noted how many have flowered at one 
time, and how many have not. I venture to assert 
that not more than one quarter will produce flowers 
at the same time. Then, if this be so, how can 
keeping them pot-bound be the cause of free 
flowering, for the Eucharis will flower after every 
growth it makes, providing it is subjected for a time to 
compost I lifted the pots out of the plunging material, 
and stood them on the surface to complete their 
growth ; and when they had done so, I removed them 
to a cooler and drier house, where they remained until 
they showed their flower-spikes, as they all did that 
were strong enough to flower in about four or five 
weeks. Then I placed them in a warm house to open 
their flowers, giving them weak doses of liquid 
manure twice a week. In the following February 
I shook them all out again, and sorted the bulbs as 
before, and this time I had sufficient bulbs, strong 
enough to flower, to fill twelve 9-in. pots. I treated 
them exactly as stated above, and nothing could have 
been more satisfactory, for every bulb threw up a fine 
flower-spike. It will be seen from this that I made 
twelve pots out of three in one year, besides the 
smaller ones, of which I had several potsful. I have 
carried out this system ever since, and by resting part 
and growing part alternately, we are rarely without a 
few in flower, and as they are so useful either for 
wreaths, crosses, bouquets, vases, or for the decoration 
are familiar with the fact, and rejoice in it, for the 
Cyclamen now, if not the Queen of Winter flowers, 
is at least unsurpassed for beauty, floriferousness, 
and utility. By careful selection and improved 
methods of cultivation, which has involved the 
abolition of the old roasting system, the Cyclamen 
is now a model of all the floral excellencies, as may 
be seen by a reference to the accompanying illustra¬ 
tion, for which we are indebted to Mr. Williams. 
The comparatively mild weather we have experienced 
up to the present time has dealt kindly wdth the plants 
in the various houses, which are freshness itself as 
compared with their appearance after a lengthened 
period of hard firing; but a heavy fog has left its 
mark on many of the Orchid blooms. The new 
Calanthe Williamsii, which has not yet been exhibited 
in public, though familiar to readers of The Orchid 
Album, is now in bloom. It is a variety of C. vestita, 
and by reason of its handsome, three-lobed, bright, 
rosy-crimson lip, and its free-flow r ering character, 
must be welcomed as a valuable addition to these 
