THE GARDENING WORLD. 
January 28, 1.905. 
72 
Amaryllis. 
The varieties of these handsome bulbous plants have been 
so greatly increased and improved of late years that they 
now form a group of considerable importance for the embellish¬ 
ment of the conservatory and sitting room. 
There is no special difficulty in raising a stock from seed, 
but as the seedlings do not bloom until the third season from 
the time of sowing, the preferable course is by purchasing- 
bulbs of seedlings or named varieties that have reached a 
flowering size. 
The bulbs should each year remain in the pvits in which 
they were flowered, until the present month, and then be 
shaken out and repotted, 6-in. pots being the most suitable 
for flowering bulbs of average size : for smaller bulbs 5-in. 
pots will be large enough ; while for those of extra size, 7-in. 
pots will be necessary. Use a compost of turfy loam six parts 
and one part each of rotten cow manure, leaf mould, and 
coarse sand. 
The pots must be well drained, and the bulbs should be 
buried to rather more than one half their depth, and have the 
soil pressed firmly about them. 
For flowering during the spring months, when they are of 
the greatest value, they may be started at any time between 
January 1st and March 1st, but the best plan is to start one 
batch in January, and others in February and March. 
A temperature between 55 deg. and 60 deg. will be the best 
for starting them into growth, and very little water should 
be given them until they are growing freely. When the flower 
stems have attained their full length, and the buds are begin¬ 
ning to expand, remove them to a warm greenhouse, place 
near the glass, and give an occasional supply of weak liquid 
manure. 
It. is essential to give the bulbs careful attention after they 
have flowered to ensure the growth being properly completed. 
Sometimes mealy bug will gain a footing and be quite at home 
among the loose skin portions of the bulbs, so that it is ne¬ 
cessary to examine each bulb at the time of potting, and 
continue the search several times after to avoid any farther 
spreading among other plants. Constant Reader. 
The Young Gardener. 
Many fond parents often wonder what they shall make 
of their sons, even without consulting them on the point at 
all. And sometimes when the sons scarcely know their own 
minds, they are pushed into trades or professions which they 
find out latterly (alas! when it is too late) that they are 
entirely unsuited for. 
Now, every young man ought to be consulted on this point, 
and if perhaps at the time when he should make a start in 
a definite direction he has no thoroughly fixed aim in life, he 
should be encouraged to form one, but never forced against 
his will. 
This especially, I think, applies to gardening; unless a 
young man has a thorough liking for the profession, he is 
better never to start in it. There are so many buffetings to 
stand, of such a varied nature, that unless he has the deter¬ 
mination instilled into him by a thorough love of his profes¬ 
sion, he will sink under them and only help to swell the 
already large number of unemployed or unsuited gardeners. 
There are large numbers of unsuited gardeners, but to the 
young man who really wishes to become a gardener I would 
say, “ Go into it; there is plenty of room for really first-class 
men.” 
Get into a good place under a thoroughly good apprentice 
master. Though he may seem hard or even unreasonable at 
times to your unenlightened mind, yet as time advances you 
will gradually come to understand the benefit of it as the 
mysteries of your profession are unfolded to you. 
Always keep your eyes and ears open during the working 
day, but do not let that suffice for you. When you get into 
the bothy at night make a start in your apprenticeship and 
continue it by study. 
M hat fields there are before the young man who really 
wishes to get on! No other profession or trade lias the 
boundless, unexplored fields into which the young man may 
ramble and wring the secrets from them. Botany, chemistry, 
entomology, and meteorology are some of the principal 
channels into which he should direct his energies in his spare 
time. 
Many will say there is no need of such, but when we get the 
man with practice and theory properly combined, we un¬ 
doubtedly have the best man. Some, and especially young 
men, when they gain a slight advantage in theory over their 
practical fellows, think they should be above them, and then 
they often neglect the observant, practical work. Now this is 
where the young man goes wrong. Never allow yourself to 
lose that necessary element—practical observance; combine 
the two in the proper proportions : stick to the fundamental 
(the practical) work, and bring in the theory 7 only 7 to assist 
you when necessary. 
You will have difficulties to surmount and trials to stand, but 
do not be daunted. Aim at being a master in your profession, 
and work unsparingly towards that end, and though you may 
not exactly gain the point you are striving for, yet you are 
sure to rise higher than the one who takes things as lie finds 
them. In some cases it is longer and others shorter, but 
always persevere. William Good. 
Reinwardtia trigyna. 
Reinwardtia trigyna, or, as it is more commonly named, 
Linum trigynum, is a pretty winter-flowering subject which 
we seldom hear anything about. 
It is a very useful plant, blooming as it does during these 
dull winter months, and well worth more extensive cultivation 
than it appears to receive at present. 
The flowers are of a bright yellow colour, and the plant 
being of a very free-flowering nature, a batch in 6-in. pots 
would be found a great acquisition to the 1 flowering-house 1 at a 
time when good flowering plants are not very plentiful. 
Cuttings should be taken from the strongest shoots of the 
old plants during. March or April, and inserted in a close pro¬ 
pagating frame, and when rooted, potted singly into 3-in. pots 
and grown on in an intermediate temperature until established 
in 6-in. pots. 
A heated frame or pit, where the plants can be placed close 
up to the glass, is most suitable for them during the time they 
are making growth. When young they should be kept well 
pinched to induce a compact, bushy habit. In the autumn, 
when they have attained a fair size, say, about a foot high, 
the plants should be placed in a cold frame, where plenty of 
air and sun can be admitted, as it is necessary to thoroughly 
ripen the recently made growths for winter flowering. 
Old plants may be cut back and grown on under similar 
treatment, and they will flower well if they are given plenty 
of liquid manure. 
A compost of good loam and leaf-mould with a little de¬ 
cayed Mushroom-dung, and a sprinkling of rough sand or char¬ 
coal intermixed, will be found most suitable for the final pot¬ 
ting. A temperature of about 50 deg. is necessary to open the 
flowers properly and keep them from damping off. 
During the summer, when the plants are growing, they 
should be syringed daily, as this proves very beneficial to 
them by assisting growth, and also by warding off attacks of 
red spider, which is the most destructive pest which they are 
subject, to. 
Liquid manure may be given freely when the plants are 
established in their flowering pots, and assists them greatly. 
The genus Reinwardtia is a small one of three species in¬ 
habiting the mountains of the East Indies, and was so named 
after K. G. K. Reinwardt, director of the Botanic Gardens at 
Leyden some years ago. H. W. A. 
Stekxbergia flscheriaxa, which forms a succession to S, 
lutea in the autumn, has now commenced to bloom. 
