34 
THE FLORIST’S JOURNAL. 
REMARKS ON TIGRIDIA CONCHIFLORA; ITS CUL¬ 
TIVATION AND PRESERVATION. 
By Mr. E. A. Hamp, Gardener to T. Thorne, Esq. 
It must be a source of regret to all admirers of this beautiful 
flower that it should have been in this country twenty years, 
and now so rarely met with; and never do we hear its name 
mentioned but with a remark on its aptitude to rot in winter. 
A slight examination into the cause of this must soon convince 
us that our ordinary treatment is inappropriate; the great cause 
I have found to be the injury the roots sustain at the time of their 
removal from the bed at the approach of winter : our short and 
often cold summers being insufficient for a full development of 
the foliage and flowers, the bulbs are consequently immature, or 
perhaps the plant is arrested in the midst of its most active 
growth. By the general practice the bulbs are put into the 
beds or borders in March or April, and they are scarcely above 
ground by the middle of June, and do not show flowers until 
September ; consequently the early frosts frequently overtake 
them in a vigorous growing state, when they are taken up and 
stowed away for the winter in an unprepared state. What else 
can be expected from such treatment but decay and consequent 
disappointment ? What would be the effect of such treatment 
on any other bulb but the same result ? The practice I have 
found most successful is the following: — In the month of 
March get some 48-sized pots and nearly fill them with peat, 
put three bulbs into each pot at equal distances, and fill up with 
the same material; then place them in any pit-frame or vinery 
at work, where there may be room for them, giving them just 
as much water as will prevent the earth from becoming dry 
and dusty, until they show themselves above the surface, when 
water may be given rather more freely. When about two 
inches above the soil, remove them to the greenhouse, cold 
frame, or under a hand-glass, to harden. In the first week in 
May place several pots of the plants in one large pot or tub, 
in peat alone, first putting a quantity of drainage at the bottom, 
and then set it in the clump or border appointed for them, 
covering with sufficient earth to conceal the pot, and giving a 
liberal supply of water in hot dry weather. By these means I 
