LILY OF THE VALLEY. 



303 



LIME. 



croceum, and L. Chalcidonicum, or Scarlet 

 Turk's Cap. 



Lily of the Valley (not. ord. 



Lilia'cese). 



To grow lilies of the valley (Convallaria 

 mnjalis] to perfection, the roots should be 

 set in bunches one foot apart and covered 

 with a dressing of well -rotted manure 

 before the winter sets in. They can hardly 

 be treated too liberally. If grown in pots 

 for the greenhouse, by a little management 



LILY OF THE VALLEY. 



a succession may be kept in bloom till 

 June. Keep the pots perfectly dry and in 

 a cool, shady place until their natural 

 season is past, and by watering they soon 

 come into foliage and flower. In buying 

 of growers select plants with plump crowns ; 

 if these are potted, a cluster of flowering 

 spikes will be thrown up in each pot ; after 

 flowering they may be turned into the 

 border, where, in all probability, they will 

 flower the following year. 



Lime. 



This is one of the most important manures 

 that we possess. In trenching new ground 

 that it is sought to bring into cultivation 

 by deep digging, it should in many cases 

 be accompanied by the incorporation of 



lime with thesoil, which sweetens, quick ens, 

 and enriches it. 



Action of Lime. The action of lime is 

 chemical and not mechanical. " Lime, 

 employed as a manure," says Scoffern, 

 " performs three well-marked functions at 

 least, perhaps more : in all it is a powerful 

 ameliorator of soils, and under two series of 

 conditions it should be used in different 

 forms. New-burned caustic lime is a 

 powerfully corrosive body ; when brought 

 into contact with animal and vegetable 

 tissues, it rapidly disorganises them. Even 

 if the tissues be living, still the quicklime 

 will effect their disorganisation. Hence 

 arise the following deductions. When we 

 have to deal with a rank new soil, teeming 

 with noxious seeds, and with seeds ready 

 to spring into life on the first opportunity, 

 or when the object is to convert hard 

 animal tissues, such as horn or kelp, or 

 even softer ones, as clippings of woollen 

 cloth, into a useful manure, unslaked lime 

 is employed. On the other hand, when 

 the object in adding lime to the soil is to 

 supply the calcareous element as a mechani- 

 cal means of ameliorating the texture of the 

 soil, and a physiological means of supplying 

 food to certain crops, and where there are 

 no weeds nor noxious germs to destroy, 

 nor organic tissues to decompose, then the 

 employment of lime should be in the mild 

 or slaked state." In both its forms, there- 

 fore, lime is a powerful agent in the im- 

 provement of soils, especially those in which 

 clay and peat exist to any extent. 



Lime in Natural State. Lime is found 

 chiefly in the form of limestone and chalk ; 

 it enters into the composition of all marls 

 in the form of calcic carbonate in various 

 proportions, ranging from 5 to even 90 per 

 cent. ; and it is a large constituent of all 

 shells and shell sand and of corals. 



Burning Limestone, &c. Limestone 

 and chalk, from which the chief part of the 

 lime used in agricultural and gardening 



