ELLY. 183 
and you will get an abundance of beautifu] Lilies. Make 
a light soil rich, and carefully protect from the burn- 
ing sun,—the soil by a proper mulch, and the flowers by 
a suitable screen,—and the same results will follow. 
How To Plant.—The next consideration of im- 
portance is, how to plant, and upon this much depends. 
It is a part of the work but little understood, conse- 
quently most generally neglected. ‘To prepare a proper 
home for the Lily, the soil should be thrown out to the 
depth of two feet; at the bottom there should be, at 
Jeast, six inches in depth of well rotted manure, that 
from the cow stable being preferable. The manure 
should be thoroughly packed down, and upon it put 
twelve inches of well rotted sod, or good garden soil, 
then one inch of clean sand. Upon this bed place the 
bulbs, and cover them with clean sand, then fill up with 
the same kind of soil as is below the bulbs, rotted sod 
being preferable; no manure should ever come in con- 
tact with the bulbs, as it only tends to decay rather 
than to strengthen them. The mission of the bulb is to 
sustain the plant until there is root and leaf development 
sufficient to carry on the work. The bulb is simply a 
storehouse of food laid up by the plant this year, for the 
commencement of its labors the next. The plant derives 
its sustenance far away from the bulb, and will increase 
in size and strength in proportion to the amount of food 
in store for it, until it has reached its maximum growth. 
If a good, strong, healthy bulb is planted in a good rich 
soil, a correspondingly strong plant will be the result; 
which, in its turn, will make a number of strong bulbs 
for the perpetuation of the species. It is quite as impor- 
tant to have the soil above the bulb as rich as it is below, 
as most of the species feed near the surface, through 
their thousands of roots thrown out from the stem just 
above the bulb. The soil should be well drained. 
The size and number of the bulbs formed this year 
will depend upon the plants’ resources. If liberal depos- 
