CULTIVATION AND PROPAGATION OF ACHIMENES. 155 
in at the second shifting, as they are then more rapid in 
progress, the check consequent on frequent re-potting being 
avoided. The kind of soil they delight in is fibrous loam, en¬ 
riched and made porous by the addition of a portion of leaf- 
mould or well-rotted manure. To secure a supply of seed, 
attention must be paid to the ripening of the seed-vessel, which 
is curiously twisted in a spiral manner, and as soon as it is ripe 
unfolds itself, and the seed is scattered. 
Editor. 
REMARKS ON THE CULTIVATION AND PROPA¬ 
GATION OF THE GENUS ACHIMENES. 
Sir, —J feel that I need not offer any apology for troubling you 
with a few remarks on the lovely tribe of plants above named : 
their great beauty, and the long time they may be made to 
retain that beauty, their easy cultivation, and the prospect 
they offer to the hybridiser, all combine to render them the 
greatest acquisition our gardens have received for a long period, 
as they are alike suitable for the greenhouse, the drawing-room, 
or the cottage window. I think every one who has witnessed 
the splendid specimens at the recent exhibitions near the me¬ 
tropolis will admit the truth of these remarks. 
Achimenes coccinea , syn. Cyrilla pulchella, Trevirana coccinea, 
from being an old inhabitant of our stoves, claims first attention. 
It is a native of Jamaica, and was introduced in 1778. To cul¬ 
tivate this successfully ; select, about the latter end of February, 
as many of the largest of its scaly bulbs as may be required, and 
put them thinly in a flower-pan, and place the pan in a cu¬ 
cumber-bed, or any place with a warm moist atmosphere, where 
they will soon begin to grow. When they have grown nearly a 
quarter of an inch, they may be potted, in the following manner: 
— Place half a dozen of them round a small 48-sized pot, the 
soil for which should be a mixture of loam, leaf-mould and 
peat in equal proportions, with a little sand, and plenty of 
drainage: return them to the place they were taken from until 
they are well established, when they should be removed to a 
cooler pit or frame, giving more air and water as they advance 
in growth. When they have well filled the pots with roots, they 
may be shifted into 24’s, with the same kind of soil, in which 
q 2 
