CULTURE OF THE JAPAN LILY. 21 



IV. Culture in the open ground of Psittacinus gandavensis 

 and its hybrids. 



The varieties more hardy and vigorous need a richer soil than the varie- 

 ties of floribundus and racemosus ; a rich manured earth well enriched 

 with well rotted horse manure suits them. They do not even refuse to 

 grow on a sandy soil ; in a word, they can be raised in all soils. Let them 

 be planted in the month of March, and with the same care as directed for 

 floribundus. The flowering bulbs should by all means be planted at a dis- 

 tance of from nine inches to a foot each way. During the growth, water 

 must be given copiously, and in the autumn the bulbs must be treated like 

 floribundus. These beautiful varieties have the advantage of a long 

 blooming season, if one chooses to plant separately the different sized 

 bulbs ; the large will bloom in July, the smaller in August, and the small- 

 est in September and October. 



V. Propagation of the Gladiolus by Seed. 



The Gladiolus is also propagated by seed ; the sowing should be in the 

 fall, as soon as the seeds are gathered, or during the months of January and 

 February, (March and April,) in a peaty soil, in a frame covered with glass 

 to exclude the frost, or in pots or pans well drained, and filled with fresh 

 peat ; the seeds should be scarcely covered. The pots in which the seeds 

 are sown should be placed in the greenhouse or in a frame. 



When the plants appear, and the rays of the sun are too strong, I shade 

 them ; place them in large pans and give them air in order to make them 

 strong. When, in the month of May, the weather is fine and settled I 

 remove the frames which sheltered the seed in the open borders ; or I repot 

 and place the pots of young plants in the open ground, so that the first year 

 they may make the greatest possible growth. When the leaves begin to 

 grow yellow I take up, with care, the small bulbs, and preserve them in a 

 dry, secure place. In October I plant them again in the open border, at a 

 distance proportioned to their strength. The care to be given during the 

 winter is the same as that which old bulbs require. The third year the 

 greater part of them will show bloom. 



THE CULTURE OF THE JAPAN LILY. 



BY C. M. HOVEY. 



The Japan Lilies are the greatest additions ever made to our gardens. 

 Perfectly hardy, easily cultivated, extremely beautiful and highly fragrant, 

 — blooming late in season after other lilies are gone, and remaining in flow- 

 er for a long period — they can claim as they well deserve, a prominent 

 place in the largest or smallest garden. 



