1873.] HOW TO GROW PLEIONES. LILIUII GIGANTEUM FOR THE OPEN BORDER. 271 



Brittany, the -worst farmers in a badly-farmed country ; but to meet tlie special 

 circumstances I have indicated, I think it may be tried with a reasonable chance 

 of success. The Breton farmer will take crop after crop from his land, until 

 culture ceases to be remunerative ; he then allows it to relapse into a state of 

 primitive weediness, and after a few years, when the action of the native plants 

 on the soil has liberated certain constituents of fertility, he again grows his corn 

 and buckwheat. — William Ingram, Belvoir. 



HOW TO GROW PLEIONES. 



AMONGST terrestrial orchids there are none more beautiful than the many 

 varieties of Pleione, which are natives, for the most part, of the hills of 

 India, and growing at a pretty good elevation, they do not require any 

 great amount of artificial heat, and flowering as they do in the Autumn 

 months, when flowers are scarce, they are doubly valuable. They thrive in a winter 

 tem|)erature of from 50° to 55". These plants are often found growing on blocks, 

 and in this way I have often grown them well, and been very successful in flowering 

 them ; but during a visit to the nursery of Mr. John Shaw, of Bowden, I was 

 much struck with the healthy appearance of some plants I saw growing in the 

 stove in the month of July. The bulbs were the best I had seen, and upon 

 inquiring of Mr. Shaw what was his mode of culture, he told me they were 

 potted in leaf -mould pressed firmly into the pots. I immediately adopted the 

 plan, mixing with the leaf-mould about one-third rough peat and a small quantity 

 of silver-sand, and filling the pots about half-fuU of broken crocks. The result 

 has been most satisfactory. — G. Eyles, Soitth Kensingtori. 



LILIUM GIGANTEUM FOR THE OPEN BORDER. 



>| I^vHILST endeavouring to say a few words m favour of the above object, I 

 Hy]^-' would beg at the same time to remark that this noble species of Lily is 



fnot nearly so extensively grown as it deserves to be, the more so as it is 

 of easy management when its luants are hioitm. The roots or bulbs are 

 sufficiently hardy to endure frost through the winter months while in a growing 

 state. Cold, and even inclement weather does not seem to check its noble and 

 gigantic growth, when throwing up its stately stem for flowering ; and to watch 

 its progress up to the time of flowering is very interesting, as it clearly outstrips 

 all other hardy plants in ordinary cultivation. The last two springs have been un- 

 usually cold, and the growth of many things usually considered hardy was much 

 checked and injured. Liliiim giffanteum., however, kept on its way, and two out 

 of five plants which flowered with us this season, attained the height of 10 ft., 

 one having 20 and the other 21 flowers open on it about the end of June. Two 

 roots, or rather offsets of last year's flowering bulbs, also threw up flower-stems 

 towards the end of July ; one had two stems, which opened their flowers about 

 the end of August ; this will show its free-flowering property. 



To grow it out-doors successfully, a warm sheltered situation, fully exposed 



