Febra»r7 2?, 1377. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



135 



C. pardinum, C. Hirrisiannm, and 0. javanieum. Besides 

 AngrtBonm eesquipedale are A. ebnrncum and the variety virens, 

 both of which are highly ornamental though less choice. In 

 biskets near the Dendrobiuma in the warm division are 

 Phalienopsia rosea, P. grandiflora, S.iecolabiam gattatam, and 

 S. Harriaonianam, which often attracts attention from its 

 agreeable perfume. Epidendrum xauthinum is a fine orna- 

 msntal species, with dense heads of yellow flowers. The same 

 may be said of E. ereotum, with purple flowers. E. fragrans, 

 4hoagh not showy, ia of pleasing appeBr.^uce and delightfully 

 fragrant, on which account alone it is worth cultivating. 

 E. coohleatnm is of similar habit, and peculiar from its nearly 

 black ahell-shaped lip and narrow sepals and pe'.als. Lielia 

 saperbiens has some beautiful heads of bloom, with which also 

 is L. anceps. Of Oattleya Triauffi there are fine light and 

 dark varieties. 



THE LILV. 



In my CDmmunication of the l^t inst., whsn alladiug to a 

 show of flowers which had been made, as it was stated, by a 

 bulb that hid flowered the previous year, I said " it was the 

 successor of the former bulb that produced the display, as a 

 Lily bulb cin only flower oaoe — that is, during one aeasou." 

 Permit me now to explain. 



In the first place, I ask. Is a Lily an annual or a perennial, 

 or is it between the two, a biennial ? The origin of a Lily 

 bulb is a germ or seed bud. Nature causes this to vegetate or 

 grow the first year, to bloom the second year, and then it dies 

 — leaves, stem, aciles, and roots all pei'ish. Such is the short 

 span of th3 existence of a Lily bulb. If a bulb that has 

 fljwered is taken up, say late in the nest autuma, and cut 

 in two vertically, it will be seen that it has within itself three 

 distinct generations — 'hat U, a portion of the parent bulb 

 which has flowered this year, 1S77 ; the whole of a new bulb 

 which Nature destined to flower in 1878; and a germ or seed 

 bad which was intended to grow up a full-8iz°d bulb and 

 flower in 1^79. At this time, the autumn of 1877, the seed 

 bad will be so minute aa not to be perceptiblo without the aid 

 of a magnifying glass, but if a similar bulb is takeu up in 

 January, 1878, and dissected the seed bud will then be per- 

 ceptible to the naked eye, aa it will be about the size of a 

 canary seed, and will, if the scales are picked off carefully, be 

 found ia the axil between the inmost fleshy scale and the base 

 of the new flower-stem. I send you a slice, marked No. 1, of 

 a bulb I cat open last month ; it is now coueiderably decayed 

 by exposure, but still you will perceive the seed bud at the 

 base between the scales and a portion of the now flower-stem. 

 No. 2 is a portion of a bulb I took up only two days ago. It 

 is a very fiue fresh specimen, as I was careful ia picking off 

 the scales. At the base of the flower-stem which was destined 

 to flower this year you will see the seed bud eight or ten times 

 larger than No. 1, showing the comparati''e Urge increase in 

 growth it has made in only one month. This seed bud was 

 destined to become a full-grown bulb and flower iu 1878. 



The plan that I adopted in order to trace the progress of 

 the seed bud as it grew up into a fully-formed bulb waa this : — 

 In Octobsr, 187^-1, I lifted some fifty thoroughly matured bulbs 

 and replanted them in a piece of spare ground. In January I 

 oommencsd by taking up two or three, catting the bulbs ver- 

 tically ia two, and otherwise dissecting them for the purposes of 

 my experiments. In this month I fouad the seed bul, as I 

 have said, about the siz) of a canary seed. Ia this manner I 

 continued to lift two or three bulbi every month up to the 

 following October, in flower or not, as the case might be, and 

 noted the progress of the seed bud until it had grown up 

 similar ia sizs to oae I had out and laid open for inspection 

 in the previous autama. 



By this simple experiment it may be proved in the most 

 satisfactory manner that the parent bnlb of this year, after 

 hafiog flowered, and after having all the sap absorbed from 

 iti scales for the nourishment of the new bnlb, decays and 

 dies. In like manner its successor flowers the next year, 

 decays and dies; and so on, one generation following the other 

 year after year, and all emanating from germs or seed buds. 



There are some professional Lily-growers who have vary 

 strange notions about the physiology of the bulb, who have 

 passed round and round about it for many years, who have 

 actually stumbled over it withoat apparently having perceptive 

 powers snflicient to grasp its very simple details. Messrs. 

 Tentschel, the extensive growers and imp .rters of the Lily, in 

 theu: observations aay : — " What is the balb bat a receptacle 



of stored up force daring the winter months to preserva life 

 aad perpetuate spring growth ?" Again : — " A yearly increment 

 of growth occurs in healthy Lilies iu the interior of the bulb, 

 the outer and old scales are pushed farther apart by the new 

 growth, and the balb increases in siza more or less according 

 to the nature and health of the bulb." Again: — " We have 

 constantly observed when Lilies are taken up that there are 

 two sets of scales, the outer irregular discoloured portion, 

 which represents all that is left of last year's bulb, and an 

 inner, regular, plump, white set of scales, representing the 

 growth of the previous and the inflorescence of the coming 

 season." Now, what possible information can passages like 

 these convey to the mind of the inquiring amateur ? They 

 can only bewilder and discourage him. Another extract and 

 I have done. Jlesars. Teutschel say : — " A bulb will send up 

 two or more stems. At the close of the season it will be found 

 that each stem has acquired a separate bulb, and that two, 

 three, or more bulbs have been formed out of the original 

 parent." 



With reference to this list extract, which very imperfectly 

 aecouuts for the pheaomeuou, we know that almost every 

 scale of a fresh ripe bulb could be made to germinate, but not 

 while tbey are connected with a growing new bulb, as such a 

 bulb draws all the nutriment out of the scales of the parent 

 bulb until the parent decays and dies. There are, however, 

 sometimes more than one seed bud which grows out of ihe 

 new bplb altogether independent of the parent bulb, and iLia 

 gives rise to the phenomenon of what is properly called twin- 

 bullis. As an illustration of the fact I send yon the half of a 

 speciosum bnlb which I took up last October and cut in two. 

 It is shrivelled up by exposure to the atmosphere, but still you 

 will see that there are two finely formed twin-bulbs, and be- 

 hind, and entirely distinct from them, is the decayed stump of 

 last year's flower-stem. Theee bulbs are equal in size, and 

 show each the rudiments of a new flower-stem, and had the 

 parent bulb been left in the ground or replanted these bulbs 

 would doubtless have both flowered this year. Look at the 

 remains of the parent bulb ; if it h^d been allowed to remain 

 ia the ground these twin-bulbs would have been much larger 

 than they are now, and the remains of the parent bulb in the 

 ordinary course of nature would have been dead and gone by 

 this time. Then how can it be said with truth that the bulb 

 that has flowered this year has ever flowered before? Or with 

 what truth can it be said that the bulb that has flowered one 

 year will ever flower again ? — Dcnedin. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 



At the last meeting of the Floral Committee of the Eoyal 

 HonTicuLTUB-Ui SociETT a silver Davis medal waa recom- 

 mended to be given to W. H. Michael, E^q , not " MiohoU," aa 

 published in our report. Iu connection with these meetings 

 we cannot overlook the apparent anomaly, that while all the 

 collections of the nurserymen have the exhibitors' names, &c. , 

 attacheil, tho private collections are exhibited under numbers 

 only. Surely if the names of half of the exhibitors may be 

 attached to their productions those of the other half may bo 

 similarly given. Mistakes in reporting would then be less 

 likely to occur, uniformity would be secured, the meetings 

 would be more interesting to visitors, equally fair to exhibitor?, 

 and more generally convenient to all concerned. 



The Council of the lloyal Horticultural Society have 



decided upon holding a Provincial Snow this year, and as 

 soon aa the necessary preliminaries are arranged due notice 

 will be given. 



We have received a copy of the proposed schedule of 



the Cabnatios and Picotee Snow which ia to be held in 

 London in July next. There are ten classes, and the value of 

 the prizes range from 70.f. downwards. A list of supporters is 

 appended, showiog that upwards of £40 has been subscribed. 

 Further aid is solicited, and we trust that it will be forth- 

 coming, so that a aubstantial impetus may be given to the 

 cultivation of these beautiful flowers. 



A CORRESPONDENT Writes to us as follows regarding the 



flowering of the Laurustinus :—" Many have remarked on 

 the remarkable profusion of flowers which are being produced 

 by this shrub; bat ia it not remarkatile that while vegetation 

 is earlier than asual owing to the mild winter, the Liurustiaus 

 is much later in flowering than has often been the case daring 

 Bcvero winters?" We should say it is very remarkable if it ia 

 so. What do other observers say on the subject ? 



