Abstract
“HERBERTIA”, the fifth year-book of the American Amaryllis Society (From the Editor, Mira Flores, Orlando, Florida, U.S.A., 1938) maintains a proper balance between needs of the grower, the scientific worker and the teacher, and attains a human interest in addition. The present volume is dedicated to Ernst H. Krelage (Holland), about whom an interesting autobiography appears. Classification of the Amaryllidaceæ is somewhat difficult, but a series of papers by Dr. H. P. Traub and J. C. Th. Uphof clarifies some obscurities and makes possible a tentative revision of the genus Amaryllis. Cyto-logical studies have also been used by Walter S. Flory to re-establish tho genus Habranthua. Experiments by W. M. James upon vernalizing seed of Leucocoryne Ixioides indicate the possibility of much faster production of flowering-size plants. I. W. Heaton reviews the possibilities of growing hybrid amaryllids with culture solutions instead of compost, and preliminary experiments suggest a useful and extremely economic method of culture. The section on harvesting, storage and forcing contains two mutually complementary papers by Dr. John Grainger (England), who describes the scientific principles underlying the production of early bloom, and by Prof. E. van Slogteron (Holland), who considers the practices for early forcing. “Herbertia” has also the usual descriptions of regional activities and garden culture. It is comprehensive, and succinct yet adequate. The policy of Dr. Hamilton P. Traub, its editor, presents the requisite blend of new and established knowledge which is essential for progress in modern horticulture.
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Horticulture of the Amaryllidaceæ. Nature 143, 513 (1939). https://doi.org/10.1038/143513b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/143513b0