of Rural Art and Taste. 



51 



blooming, the pots are plunged in the gar- 

 den, and well covered, where they remain 

 until near Christmas, when they are again 

 taken into the greenhouse. By that time 

 the bulbs are well-rooted, having had regu- 

 lar moisture, and an unforced growth. The 

 writer saw one of these lilies when in bud. 

 The stem was at least four feet high, and 

 the prospect for flowers very fine. 



We had a very large bulb of the Lilium 

 Auratum brought to us, one winter, to ex- 

 amine. It had been potted about three 

 months, and had been kept in a greenhouse. 

 It showed no signs of sprouting, and the 

 lady who brought it was quite discouraged 

 at the state of her fine bulb for which she 

 had paid rather a large price. We found 

 the bulb set on top of the ground, instead of 

 under ; and though the roots were numerous, 

 and had covered the outside of the earth, 

 there was not a leaf to be seen, nor any 

 signs of their appearance. The lily was left 

 to our care. We covered the bulb, by 

 heaping earth over it, watered it daily, ex- 

 posed it to the sun, in a south window, and 

 in ten days a fine stem appeared, which, in 

 course of time, produced four or five large 

 flowers. 



A lady, who, every winter, has fine white 

 lilies in bloom, in her greenhouse, told the 

 writer that she seldom had them repotted ; 

 but instead top-dressing them, and watered 

 them with manure water. She used very 

 rich earth. They were a large sort of L. 

 longiflorum. 



In our neighborhood, there is a general 

 complaint that the Japan lilies do not flour- 

 ish well. They may bloom for a season or 

 two, but soon die out. We think the cause 

 may be the clayey moisture-retaining soil, 

 which does not suit the bulbs. We observed, 

 during a visit, last summer, to Salem, New 

 Jersey, that the Japan lilies there, almost 

 without an exception, were in a thriving 

 healthy condition. This we attributed to 

 the somewhat sandy soil, which being light 

 and porous, did not retain moisture around 

 the bulbs ; at the same time the atmosphere 

 is rather damp, which prevents too much 



dryness, and retards evaporation from the 

 leaves, which, if the earth was too dry, 

 might exaust them. 



A traveler in Japan states that the soil 

 is naturally a sandy one. Might we not 

 conclude from this that all Japan lilies need 

 a light and well-drained soil ? This might 

 be accomplished, in the garden, by taking 

 out the soil from the bed intended for lilies, 

 and covering the bottom with stones, brick- 

 bats, coal ashes, or shells, to allow superflu- 

 ous moisture free exit. Then the soil might 

 be mixed with a light sand (some sands sink 

 rapidly) and replaced. Our native lilies 

 grow, mostly, on banks, or sides of hills, 

 showing that a watery, or a continually damp 

 soil, is not their choice, or healthful for them. 



A neighbor-amateur has had a bed pre- 

 pared, as above, this fall, for her choice 

 garden lilies. A. Gr. 



Red Astraclian Apple. 



rrHE Wisconsin Horticultural Society has 

 J- for years recommended the Red Astra- 

 chan for general culture. It has also been 

 highly recommended by the American Po- 

 mological Society. From these facts we 

 might reasonably infer that it is a desirable 

 variety, and one that everybody should 

 plant. 



Such, however, does not appear to be the 

 fact. There are hundreds of the trees in 

 this section, but we verily believe that there 

 was not a bushel of them grown in this 

 country last year. The trouble seems to be 

 that they do not hear. Duchess of Olden- 

 burg will bear five times the fruit. It is 

 true the trees are handsome and hardy. 

 What we want, however, is fruit, and we 

 have never known the Red Astrachan to 

 bear heavily. Some claim it to bear well. 

 If it does, it must be on good sites, where 

 other sorts do still better. From the length 

 of time it has been before the public, it cer- 

 tainly ought to show itself in the markets 

 and in every orchard. Does it do so ? 



A. L. Hatch. 



Ithaca, Wis. 



