they will take no harm. It is, moreover, a most easy matter to grow them into magnificent specimens.
Supposing you have a few old plants to begin with; some time in February, or the beginning of March, turn them out of the pots, and divide carefully, according to the number required. It is not desirable to divide them into small portions when required for indoor decoration, as a few good specimens have a much better effect than treble the number of small plants with single spikes. An average of four spikes to each specimen is the most suitable for ordinary purposes.
Good fibrous loam, mixed with a liberal proportion of hotbed manure, will form a suitable compost. Use six-inch pots to commence with, and after potting place the stock in a cold frame until the pots are nicely filled with roots, and then shift them into sixteen-inch pots. Admit plenty of air to keep the growth short-jointed and hardy; and towards the end of May, place the plants out of doors in a shady corner, and be careful to stand the pots upon a bed of coal ashes to keep the worms out. Here they may remain until the flowers begin to expand, when they will be taken to the conservatory.
After the beauty of the flowers is past, remove them to the open air, and cut away the old flower-stem, and in October return to the cold frame, or heap a good thickness of coal-ashes over the pots, and lay a few boards on the top to throw the wet off. Where frame-room is abundant, they may be potted in the autumn with advantage, because it gives them an opportunity to get well established before they start into new growth in the spring.
Marica.—This is a genus of Irids for the greenhouse and the stove. The proper soil for it is a mixture of loam, peat, leaf-mould, and sand, but no manure. The most ornamental species are, M. Sabini, M. cærulea, M. Nortliana, and M. semi-aperta; the latter is the hardiest, and may be grown in either a greenhouse or a stove. At the foot of each stem on which flowers are borne, young plants are produced; like some lilies, it is viviparous. As for the flower-stem, that arches over until it touches the ground, and the cultivator should allow it to do so, or the flowers will not open properly.
Mignonette is such a favorite that there will be no question about the propriety of giving it a place here. And,
