J44 



THE FLORISTS MANUAL. 



force our 5x7 bulbs in square boxes 

 holding a dozen plants and about five 

 inches of soil. It was by no means a 

 success. They were very awkward to 

 handle, and for some reason not ac 

 counted for a large percentage came 

 blind. 



Large growers of early forced lilies 

 find from experience that the 7x9 bulbs 

 pay them best. They get a few more 

 flowers to the plant, they stand high 

 forcing better and fewer come blind, so 

 for these important reasons we must 

 recommend the 7x9 bulbs for Christmas 

 flowering. 



We put the 7x9 bulbs in 6-inch pots, 

 leaving the top of bulb about even with 

 surface of soil. For those we want early, 

 say for December cutting, we put at 

 once on the bench in a shady house and 

 after one watering cover the pots lightly 

 with excelsior. It keeps them from dry 

 ing out and does not prevent the lily 

 from pushing up. Eemove it as soon as 

 the growth is up an inch. Water spar 

 ingly till the growth starts. As there are 

 few roots they don t want much water. 

 Later batches of this size we put outside 

 in frames and there the few inches of 

 covering are of still greater service, as 

 the sun would daily dry out and bake 



the soil. Be sure that the frames you 

 stand them in have dry bottoms and 

 that water does not remain under the 

 pots. 



I like to have the lilies in frames, 

 because if we get several days of copious 

 rain, say in September, it would be alto 

 gether too much for them. And there 

 you have at hand the means of covering 

 them with glass. 



Whether started in the house or in a 

 frame these lilies should be well rooted 

 before they are given much forcing. By 

 early November many of them will be 

 well advanced and can be given a good 

 heat, and as they show their buds they 

 will endure strong forcing. The man 

 ager of a largre establishment who said 

 he would have 15,000 lilies for Thanks 

 giving, answered to a query : Yes, they 

 will take all the heat you can give them. 

 We often give them 80 and 90 degrees 

 at night. But don t expect them all 

 in so early. They come along in suc 

 cession and are always in demand. 



We have often had occasion to re 

 mark that the lily was one of the most 

 profitable of plants. No matter whether 

 it be the well grown Easter plant or the 

 cut spike in December or January, there 

 is no time when the lily is not welcome 



Lilium Longiflorum. 



and does not find admirers; the short 

 season they occupy the benches and the 

 comparatively small space they are 

 grown in make them a profitable crop. 

 You should have one house or at least 

 part of a house where you have the means 

 of keeping a night temperature of 70 

 degrees in any weather or you can t get 

 the Bermuda lilies in bloom by Christ 

 mas. This house would not only force 

 the lilies, but it would hasten your Christ 

 mas azaleas, finish off your azaleas and 

 a number of other things. 



It is not only at Easter or Christmas 

 or Decoration day that we want the 

 lilies. From November on till June there 

 is use for them. At weddings they are 

 often a leading feature and at funerals 

 they are in constant use. 



Although lilies are in demand from 

 November to June, and for that matter 

 the entire year, it is at Easter we most 

 desire our main crop. The Japan bulbs 

 are usually grown singly in (5-inch or 

 7-inch pots, yet within a few years there 

 is a liking for a deep pan or pot (say 

 a 9-inch) with three or four handsome 

 plants. Many of our customers will pay 

 handsomely for such an arrangement. 

 The ordinary pan is too shallow and the 

 common pot is unwieldy. What is known 

 as the azalea pot is just the thing for 

 this purpose. It is made by all the lead 

 ing manufacturers. 



Now if you planted three bulbs in this 

 9-inch pan in October there would be a 

 strong probability of their flowering at 

 different dates and a good chance that 

 it would not be a success. You can adopt 

 a much surer and easier plan. When the 

 6-inch pot plants are just expanding the 

 buds, or even if some are wide open, se 

 lect three or four plants of uniform size 

 and after removing the pot take a 

 large, sharp knife (your wife s carving 

 knife is the thing) and cut off two- 

 thirds of the soil and roots of the 6-inch 

 ball, or reduce the ball of earth till you 

 can get them into the azalea pot. You 

 may think this is brutal treatment, but 

 experience will teach you that there is no 

 ill effect resulting. All the buds will 

 open and the plants will remain in ap 

 parently perfect health. There is no 

 fraud in this, for ninety-nine per cent of 

 all lilies sold are thrown in the garbage 

 barrel as soon as done flowering, and 

 these you have doctored will last as long 

 as the undisturbed. For this purpose the 

 dwarf-growing Japan variety is much the 

 best. 



When we forced entirely the Bermuda- 

 grown lilies for Easter we tried for sev 

 eral seasons the plan of first potting 

 them in 4-inch pots and later after they 

 were three or four inches above the pots 

 shifting into 6-ineh. It saved space and 

 perhaps pots if short on them at that 

 time. We heard several growers report 

 that it retarded their plants at least two 

 weeks. If carefully repotted we doubt 

 whether it would do so. However, 

 eventually there is no saving in space 

 or pots and for the average grower I 

 would not recommend the plan, but would 

 rather put the bulb at once into its flow 

 ering pot, a 6-inch or 7-inch, according 

 to size of bulb, for some growers force 

 the large 9x11 bulbs. 



