CULTURE OF TROPiEOLU M • TillCOLO RUM - 1 1 
i 
cold cutting winds ; in every other respect it is constitutionally 
robust, and, if these two essentials can be secured, the rest is 
easy. 
In speaking of the routine culture, I will begin with the 
growing season, which usually commences about the present 
time. The plants should not be prematurely excited, but be 
allowed to remain undisturbed till they show their stems above 
the earth in the pot; this they commonly do with the return of 
genial weather, sometimes a month sooner or later, and, in some 
instances, the bulb, if it has not been well grown the preced¬ 
ing season, will continue dormant above a twelvemonth; but, 
in ordinary circumstances, they may be expected to push in 
January or February, and as soon as they are observed an inch 
or two above the mould, repot them; in doing this remove as 
much of the old earth as is practicable without injuring the 
young rootlets, which will appear like fine silk : it is preferable 
to use rather small than large pots, those called “ thirty-twos 
are quite large enough for a moderately sized root. A good 
drainage of broken crocks should be used, and on them a few 
rough pieces of turfy peat should be laid, and then the mixture 
before recommended ; il the bulb is small it is better to keep the 
crown just above the earth, but, if a large one, it may be covered 
about half an inch. After potting keep them moderately supplied 
with water; the trellis on which they are to be trained should 
be placed when the stems have attained about a foot in length, 
and, as the warm weather advances, the pots in which they are 
growing should be placed in large ones, and the space between 
them filled with moss to keep the roots moist; water must be 
odven carefully and constantly, just sufficient to keep them cool 
and moist. When the flowers are produced the plants may be 
removed to a more shaded situation, and the same treatment 
continued till the bloom is over, when water should be gently 
withheld, and the plants returned to their former shelf, and 
gradually dried off for the winter; they should remain in the 
same earth and the same pot, till the season returns for a 
renewal of the foregoing mode of culture. 
J. Mackensie. 
