CHAPEE IX 



PEOPAGATION 



THERE are three ways of propagating lilies 

 by seed, by scales and by offsets. Seed, no 

 doubt, is the best means of acclimatizing some 

 of the more tender and capricious species, but 

 only a lily enthusiast would care to use so slow 

 a process of reproduction. It requires about 

 seven years for L. giganteum to bloom from 

 seed and the other species take their own time. 

 A few of the lilies produce seed very freely, 

 among them L. Henryi, L. superbum, L. rubel- 

 lum and L. tenuifolium; others are chary of it. 

 Lily seed should be planted in a sheltered place, 

 as soon as well ripened, in light, moist soil and 

 not allowed to dry out until the second year, as 

 germination may not take place the first spring. 

 Sow seed of Martagon lily, L. monadelphum, L. 

 dauricum, L. croceum, L. superbum in open 

 ground if desired, but most kinds germinate 

 better in pans indoors. The young bulbs can 

 be transplanted when a year old and grown on 



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