324 THE FLOEAL WOELD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 



in length ; these are carefully prepared to avoid bruising any part 

 of the stem, and are inserted in cutting pots prepared with a surface 

 of firmly pressed, pure, and moistened white sand ; after watering, 

 to settle the sand close about them, and allowing the moisture to 

 subside, they are covered with bell-glasses, the edges of which are 

 pressed a little into the surface of the saDd, so as to completely 

 exclude the air. They are then placed in a propagating bouse, or 

 in a spent hot-bed. The glasses should be wiped inside, if much 

 dampness accumulates. When they begin to root, which will- 

 appear from the starting of the shoots, they must have a little air 

 daily, to harden them, previously to removing the bell-glasses 

 entirely. 



THE CULTURE OF LILIUM LANCIFOLIUM. 



(HE present is a suitable time to commence preparations 

 for growing the varieties of Lilium lancifolium as orna- 

 mental pot plants, either for exhibition or for decorating 

 the conservatory. This class of Liliums i.3 decidedly 

 the best for pot culture, not only on account of their 

 beauty and fragrance, but also from their habit of flowering late in 

 the summer. They are, moreover, easily managed, and are, there- 

 fore, very suitable plants for amateur cultivators. Good, strong, 

 healthy bulbs, which have now become cheap, should be purchased 

 at once, and may be potted into the following compost : — Three 

 parts peat, each chopped very closely, and one part of good loam ; 

 a good quantity of sand should be intermixed — the ciean, gritty 

 sand which builders use will do, but white sand is better. To pro- 

 duce a good display, two or three bulbs may be planted together in 

 a pot ; six or eight stems form a good plant, and may be produced 

 by planting two or three of the double crown bulbs which are often 

 to be selected from among strong roots, and are more suitable for 

 pot culture than a number of single-eyed bulbs. No. 6 pots 

 (thirteen inches diameter) will do very well for two or three such 

 bulbs, which will furnish five, six, or more stems. The plants do 

 best on the one-shift system ; the bulbs should, consequently, be 

 plauted at once in the pots they are to flower in, taking care that 

 they are well drained. On the two or three inches of broken pot- 

 sherds, place some of the roughest of the soil, to keep the finer from 

 mixing with and choking the drainage ; fill up the pots to within 

 three inches of the top, and then place the bulb or bulbs on the 

 surface of the soil, covering about one inch of soil over them. Do 

 sot water them after potting, but place them in a cold frame or pit - r 

 or beneath the greenhouse stage, if care is taken that they do not 

 get wet from the drippings of the plants above them. When they 

 commence growing, if under the greenhouse stage, remove them 

 into a framo or pit ; and wherever they are placed, let them, under 

 favourable circumstances, have plenty of air, so as to keep them 

 stocky. Give them a good watering in this stage of their growth^ 



