12 TEE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



Planting should if possible be finished in Xovember, and then it 

 ■will be a good rule to mulch the lily bed with two or three inchea 

 of long straw manure, this will protect from frost not merely the 

 bulbs, but also the young shoots just peeping above ground in 

 April, and as the rain washes down the diluted manure in a liquid 

 form, sufficient will be supplied to the roots to obtain a good supply 

 of flower buds, without over stimulation ; while the injurious 

 contact of decomposing organic manure, with the bulb or roots (on 

 which much stres-s is laid in lily culture), will be avoided. We do 

 not observe any mention of sand in your paper: on the proper use 

 of coarse white sand in sharpening stiff soils, in preventing tlie 

 earth from caking about the bulbs, and in admitting the influence 

 of light and air to the roots, we l:iy great stress ; and we strongly 

 recommend in planting to place the bulb on a handful of sand, or, 

 what we think still better, of fine cocoanut-fibre, in which the lilies 

 root readily. We believe cocoanut-fibre should be largely used by all 

 lily growers. It is a capital medium in which to store bulbs, which 

 cannot be planted, it keeps them cool and moist, encourages root 

 action, and the bulbs may be lifted and planted without any of 

 the rootlets being broken. Placed about the bulb in the ground 

 it prevents caking, is always cool and moist — and if thus planted 

 with them, indicates in the taking-up time where the bulbs are to be 

 found, a point of some importance when the kinds are small, and 

 days are dull. A mulching of two inches of cocoanut-fibre in hot 

 weather also keeps the bulbs cool, their surface roots moist, and is 

 no disfigurement to the beds. 



It is also highly important, when it is necessary to lift bulbs, 

 whether for exchange, sale, or otherwise, and keep them awhile 

 out of the ground, to cover them from the drying action of the 

 atmosphere by some cool, moist material ; for this purpose cocoa 

 waste is most useful. It has been for years our practice thus to 

 store away the bulbs which of necessity we must keep during the 

 winter months for our customers. It is also most useful to restore 

 moisture to bulbs, which after importation arrive, as many do, in 

 a dry state. 



Bulbs to be imported successfully, should be taken up as soon 

 as they go to rest, i.e., as soon as the flowering season is over — 

 slightly dried, packed in som.e dry material, such as sand, charcoal, 

 sawdust, etc., to exclude moisture and the action of the atmosphere 

 — and sent oft' as quickly as possible to their destination. This 

 routine is necessary for imported bulbs, but it does not improve 

 their condition, and it is not to be wondered at, if they require a 

 season to recover themselves. First, there is the drying up of some 

 of their juices, in itself no slight evil ; secondly, the paralysis of 

 two or three months before the bulb is again placed in a condition 

 where growth and root action can be carried on favourably ; and 

 thirdly, the delay of some months in growth, by which period the 

 bulb is behindhand as compared with those bulbs which have not 

 been lifted, but have already commenced their growth underground 

 for the coming season. Practically, we find that imported Lilium 

 Auratum, if planted on arrival, flower exactly two months (precisely 



