General Notices. 615 



dung ; but it is not very particular in this respect, and will grow in any rich 

 porous soil. If dung is used, pass it through a quarter-inch mesh sieve, and 

 mix it with its own bulk of sand ; and before adding to it the compost, rub 

 it through the hands, when the sand will destroy any small Avorms that may 

 have passed through the sieve. — {Gard. Chron-, 1853, p. .548.) 



Jai'an Lilies. — The dilFerent varieties of Lilium lancifolium, which are 

 now nearly everywhere in full bloom, must certainly be classed amongst the 

 most ornamental of autumn-flowering plants, and they are so easily managed, 

 that almost anybody can grow them. The only accommodation they require 

 is a greenhouse or cold frame, where their early growth can be protected 

 from nipping frosts, and cold cutting winds in spring, and security from 

 rain and damp while in flower. Persons commencing their culture should 

 procure bulbs from the middle of November to January, at which season 

 they are dormant, and not liable to receive injury from travelling. If they 

 arrive in pots in which they have made their season's growth, they should 

 be shaken out, the decayed roots removed, and they should be re-potted in 

 fresh soil. The size of pot to be used, and the number of bulbs to be placed 

 in each, must depend upon the size of specimen desired. The pots at this 

 shift need not be larger than may be required to permit the bulbs to stand 

 about two inches apart; these will occupy less space than if the bulbs were 

 put at once ixito the pot in which they are to flower, and it will be easy to 

 re-pot before the roots become matted, or the plants sustain injury, for want 

 of pot room. Set them in a cool airy situation, and give them very little 

 water until the crowns appear above the soil. If they are wanted to flower 

 in succession, now is the time to provide for that, and with sufficient stock 

 it is easy to have a constant supply of blossom from the middle of July till 

 late in October. To effect this, place a portion of the plants in the closest 

 end of the greenhouse, or where the temperature may average about 4.5^ in 

 February, or early in March, and give them a moderate supply of water. 

 A second lot may be similarly treated in April, and a third kept as cool and 

 dry as possible, with a view to retard their growth ; and they should be 

 placed in a sunny situation out of doors as soon as the weather becomes 

 mild and settled. To have the first lot in flower in July, they will proba- 

 bly require to be kept under glass, and to be treated rather close after the 

 flower buds are formed, but this will greatly depend upon circumstances, 

 and will be best learned by a season's practice. When the bulbs com- 

 mence growing the pots should be placed near the glass, and plenty of air 

 admitted to secure dwarf stocky growth — for it is important to have the 

 leaves thickly set on the base of the stem, because, from the axils of these, 

 small bulbs will be produced, if a portion of the stem is covered with soil at 

 the final potting. The roots will have made some progress before the bulbs 

 start into growth ; and as these when allowed to become matted in small 

 pots never start vigorously into fresh soil, the plants should be shifted into 

 their flowering pots before the stems are more than a foot high. If the 

 bulbs were merely covered with soil at the first potting, they should be 

 placed afterwards three inches deeper in their pots, which serves two pur- 

 poses, viz., the encouraging the emission of roots from tlie base of tlie stems. 



