326 ANNUAL REPORT 



The bulbs should be planted from three to five inches deep, 

 and not nearer to each other than six inches. For successive 

 flowerings they can be planted as early in the spring as common 

 peas and as late as the twentieth of June. They can be put in 

 as early as the ground can be properly worked, and a spring 

 frost, or even an occasional late spring snow, will not hurt them, 

 as they are very hardy. Avoid planting a second season on 

 the same ground, but plant them anywhere. Stick a few bulbs 

 among the rose bushes and they will make the bushes beautiful 

 after the roses have gone, and if not cut each spike will remain 

 beautiful for a week or ten days, at least. Some of Lemoine's 

 hybrids are truly gorgeous. The gladiolus needs no watering, 

 and will care for itself if the weeds are kept down. I doubt if 

 any soil is better adapted to their vigorous growth and flowering 

 than the average soil of this section, into which should be worked 

 a very little well rotted stable manure. 



"With many the lily is a favorite flower. Many of its varieties 

 are truly queenly, but the Ulium auratum is the only one which 

 I have found perfectly hardy. If planted in a sandy soil it will 

 last for four or five years without a division of the bulbs, and 

 increase in vigor each year. 



The Lily of the Valley, which we all admire for its beauty and 

 purity, everyone can have. By enriching the soil on the shady 

 side of the house it will grow with wonderful vigor and increase 

 each year. 



Next to the gladioli, as a bulb for general cultivation, I would 

 name the canna, by many called Indian shot. Within a com- 

 paratively few years a large number of French hybrids have been 

 produced, which are truly splendid and range through various 

 shades of red and yellow. The bulbs increase rapidly; they can 

 be taken up each fall and kept in the cellar as easily as potatoes, 

 and are as easily planted in the spring. 



For large beds and lawn decorations they are unrivaled. 

 Their companion bulb, which forms an excellent border or edg- 

 ing for them, is the caladium esculentum, which, although flower- 

 less, yet with its immense long and broad leaves gives a tropical 

 appearance to any garden or lawn. The caladium bulbs are 

 also easily cared for and kept, and require but little attention, 

 when once planted, beyond keeping the weeds down. 



Of the amaryllis family, the amaryUis atamasco or "fairy 

 lily" is the only variety which I have found to succeed well in 

 ordinary garden soil with average cultivation. This is a beauti- 



