their Cultivation, Pi'opagatioii, (^c. 41 



Scales. — These are taken from the outside of an old bulb, 

 and potted in sand, and placed in a gentle heat, under a hand- 

 glass : very carefully treated, they generally form small 

 bulbs ; these, the second year, should be potted off, and after- 

 wards treated in the same manner we have recommended for 

 offsets. This mode is only practised by those who have all 

 the facilities of propagation ; as, under ordinary management, it 

 would probably end in sacrificmg the old roots. 



Seeds. — There is no more rapid way of increasing the 

 Japan lilies than by seeds. These are easily obtained if the 

 flowers are properly fertilized, and frequently they mature 

 without its being done artificially. Any time, during winter, 

 the seeds may be sown, placing them in broad, shallow pans, 

 in a compost rather lighter than Ave have already recom- 

 mended, and covering them about a quarter of an inch deep. 

 Frequently, the seeds show no outward signs of vegetation 

 the first year; but, upon searching after them, it will be 

 found that they have made small bulbs, from which, the sec- 

 ond year, a good shoot will spring up. The first and second 

 years they may remain in the pans, giving them water rather 

 freely while they are growing, but withholding it when the 

 foliage begins to turn yellow. The third year they should be 

 potted off singly in thumb-pots, and afterwards receive the 

 same treatment as offsets. They will occasionally flower the 

 third year, but ordinarily not until the fourth. 



New Varieties by Hybridization. 



Scarcely sufiicient time has elapsed, since the introduction 

 of these lilies, to have produced any great number of seed- 

 lings. But we apprehend that, ere long, a great quantity of 

 new varieties will be raised by hybridization. Whether any 

 improvement will be effected upon the L. speciosum var. ru- 

 brum is somewhat doubtful, but that a race of hardy kinds 

 may be produced, between the garden and the Japan varie- 

 ties, we do not doubt. We have now several hundred seed- 

 lings of various ages, from one to three years old, which have 

 been raised from the rubrum, dlbum, and punctatum, impreg- 

 nated with tigrinum, chalcedonicum, and superbum : some of 

 of them show a very distinct foliage from their parents ; and, 

 4* 



