58 
ALSTRiEMERIAS. 
roots should be dried, taken up, cleaned, and put away in dry 
sand till wanted in the following year. The only attention re¬ 
quisite in winter, is an occasional examination, when, if spots of 
mildew appear, it should be removed, and the roots further dried 
for an hour or two. They do better in earth or sand than in bags, 
as under the latter treatment they sometimes shrivel and die ; 
such as have been grown in pots, cannot, perhaps, be better pre¬ 
served than in the soil they grew in, without being disturbed at 
all, only taking care to have it dried completely through. Seed 
offers a ready means of obtaining a good stock of plants with the 
chance of some novel variety, and if attention be given to this 
part of their management, there is every probability of their 
speedily occupying a place in the florist’s catalogue, whose trade 
seems now languishing for want of some new subject. It should 
be sown either in autumn as soon as ripe, or the following March; 
a little heat is necessary to get it up, and the young plants must 
be potted off as soon as they can be safely handled; if reared in 
the autumn, they should be kept gently growing through the 
winter, when a shelf near the glass in the greenhouse suits them 
best, and in spring their treatment may be assimilated to that of 
mature plants; most of them will produce flowers the same 
season. There are some of the species which are commonly 
called stove plants, but the only difference I ever observed neces¬ 
sary in their treatment, is a little more warmth just at the com¬ 
mencement of the growth ; such as these are benefited by using 
a lighter soil, and instead of loam, peat may be employed. The 
following are a few of the most desirable, the most tender of which 
are marked with an asterisk : 
Species. Hookeri, rose; tricolory white, purple, and yellow; 
*Ligtu, white, red, and yellow; Neillii, rose and white; * pallida, 
rose, and yellow; Simsii, scarlet and yellow ; bicolor , yellow and 
white; nemorosa , crimson and yellow ; magnijica ; red, white, 
and green ; pulchra , rose, yellow, and white. 
Varieties. Formosa , white and crimson; Candida, white and 
rose; splendens, red, green, and yellow; speciosa, crimson and 
rose; magnifiora, orange and green ; aurantiaca, orange. 
L. V. H. T. 
