The Garden Under Glass

THE BEST FLOWERING PLANTS 83 following remarks. It is usual to start the bulbs into growth in March. They will be in the pots of last season and will in many cases be seen to throw out young growths from the base. These are the growths of which we must take care, for they will furnish us with the flower. The soil may be remo ved and all the roots cut off to within an inch of the base of the bulb. These ends will be left to give anchorage to the bulbs when they are potted. If infested with scale during the previous year it would now be a splendid opportunity for washing them well, and I knowof no more effective wash than that made with X.L. All insecticide. Until the growths are about an inch in length it is best to lay the bulbs on the staging and syringe them frequently. This will cause the emission of new roots as well as of growth. We now arrive at what I think the greatest factor in the culture of calanthes—the soil. The following is the formula I always use:—1 bushel of fibrous peat, 2 bushels of fibrous yellow loam, hånd picked, 1 bushel of oak-leaf soil, one 10-inch pot of charcoal, and the same quantity of brick chips, of sand, of cow manure and of sphagnum moss. The leaves are prepared in the following manner:— Good oak leaves are procured in the autumn, put into a bag and put on the boiler or over the hot-water pipes. In course of time they become dry and brittle and it is then possible to rub them through a quarter-inch sieve. It will be well to damp this leaf-soil before using it. The brick chips are prepared by breaking soft bricks so as to pass through a quarter-inch sieve, and then discarding the dusty portion by the use of a very fine sieve. Cow manure should be dricd, preferably by the sun, and broken so as to pass the quarter-inch sieve. The sphagnum moss should also be chopped up. When all these have been prepared they should be thoroughly mixed and put in a warm house