40 The Japan Lilies ; 



day, they will keep in flower much longer. After the f owors 

 have all fallen, the seed-vessels should be pinched off, unless 

 it is intended to ripen the seeds, as any great number of them 

 generally weaken the bulbs, by diverting the energies of tl e 

 plants to their growth instead of strengthening the root. For 

 a week or two, the plants may be watered as usual, after 

 which they should receive it more sparingly, and, in the 

 course of a month, it should be withheld altogether. The 

 pots may then be removed to the open air, and placed in a 

 shady situation, where they may remain until October : the 

 old stems should then be cut off close to the ground, and the 

 pots placed under the stage or in the cellar, till the usual sea- 

 son of repotting arrives. 



Propagation. 



The Japan lilies, like other species and varieties, are read- 

 ily increased by offsets from the old bulbs. It is the most 

 common, as well as the safest, mode of propagation. Other 

 plans have been resorted to by nurserymen, desirous of rap- 

 idly increasing their stock ; but the amateur will find them 

 hazardous, and, in experimenting, will be in danger of losing 

 his best bulbs. We shall, however, detail the principal modes, 

 which are, propagation by Ofl^sets — by Scales — and by Seeds. 



Offsets. — ^These are obtained at the general potting : when 

 the earth is shaken from the roots, several of these may often 

 be taken from the base ; other offsets or young bulbs also ap- 

 pear at the bottom of the old stem, above the bulbs, and if the 

 stems are slightly earthed up, a month or two before the blos- 

 soms appear, these young bulbs will be much larger. They 

 should be separated very carefully, preserving all the young 

 roots, and should be potted in the same compost recommended 

 for the old roots, with the addition of a little more peat and 

 sand. Plant one of the strong bulbs in a three-inch pot, and 

 three or four of the smaller ones, round the edge, in the same 

 size. The second year, these should be repotted according to 

 their strength, and treated in the same way as the old bulbs. 

 They will generally show one or two blooms the third year, 

 but they will not attain their full size, until the sixth or 

 seventh. 



