PLANTING BULBS. 165 



the growing plants would become covered with brown spots, the new 

 growth would become deformed and unhealthy, and if any blooms came 

 at all, they were malformed and worthless. While this so-called blight 

 is still with us, the principal cause has been removed to a large extent. 

 This was the digging of the bulbs in an unripened, immature condition. 

 The Bermuda and Japanese growers, urged on by the dealers, were so 

 anxious to get their stock into the market ahead of the other fellow 

 that they dug long before the bulbs were ready for digging. The bulbs 

 then being rushed into the hands of the florist, and by him immediately 

 urged into action, were not capable of strong, healthy growth. Hence 

 blight. 



While the folly of this premature digging is now generally recognized 

 and avoided, a little precaution on the part of the florist will not come 

 amiss. We used to figure on a goodly per cent of our lilies being a 

 failure under the old-fashioned method of starting them in six-itich 

 pots, plunging them in a frame and covering with litter and leaving 

 them out of doors until root action was under way and top growth 

 starting. 



Here is the way we handle them now, and we do not have one poor 

 one out of a hundred nor have we since growing them this way: 



Immediately upon arrival, the bulbs are potted in as small pots as 

 possible. Sixes to sevens and sevens to nines in four-inch pots, these 

 being the sizes we use altogether. We do not plunge the pots, but simply 

 stand them under a bench in a greenhouse. We keep them well on the 

 dry side after one good watering, and they sometimes stand for several 

 weeks without making a move. As they do start they are gone over 

 every few days and those that are growing are put on the bench. When 

 the pots are comfortably filled with roots, they are shifted into larger 

 ones. Sixes are what we use. In repotting, we plant deep so that the 

 bulb is a couple of inches below the surface of the soil. This not only 

 does away with the necessity for an ugly stake in all but the tallest 

 plants but it also produces a bloom of heavier texture and consequently 

 more lasting. The principal point in view with the average florist is to 

 get his lilies in bloom just at Easter. We have always found it much 

 easier to hold them back than to hurry them up, so we keep them 

 growing right along until we can see the buds. About seven weeks in 

 a rose house temperature after the buds show is what we allow for 

 bloomitig. 



If you see that they are not going to make it, water every morning 

 with water as hot as you can hold your hand in. If they are too early, 

 move into a cooler place, or for the last week they will stand it in 

 a cool cellar or shed, not necessarily light. 



Other lilies that we have found valuable for gi'eenhouse culture are 

 the Auratum, and Speciosums, Album and Rubrum. We plant these 

 in the spring, handling just as we do the Harrissi, and find them very 

 good property along in August and September. 



