82 THE BOOK OF THE LILY 



prepare the bulbs by first placing them in cocoa-nut 

 refuse as is advised for L. auratum. 



When potting the bulbs it is necessary to leave suffi- 

 cient room for a later top dressing of rich soil, as this 

 Lily produces tufts of feeding roots at the bases of the 

 stems, and these require nourishment as the stems 

 grow. After potting the bulbs, the pots may be placed 

 in the open air plunged in ashes, fibre-refuse, or leaves, 

 and protected from frosts by mats, or placed in an un- 

 heated frame, where the bulbs will start into growth 

 earlier and therefore flower before those not so pro- 

 tected. Any attempt to force this Lily into early flower 

 by strong heat will result in the production of weak and 

 often flowerless growths. 



During summer the best place for the plants is the 

 open air in partial shade unless flowering plants are 

 required before the natural time of flowering in August 

 and September, in which case the plants had better be 

 kept under glass. When the nights become cold and 

 there is much dampness in the air, the out-of-door plants 

 should be removed to an unheated house or frame, 

 otherwise the flower buds will not develop properly. 



Sometimes in a cold and wet season the flower buds 

 are unable to expand properly, but by separating by 

 hand the points of the buds, the flowers will expand 

 properly, but this delicate operation must be carefully 

 done. 



Lily bulbs that have been flowered in pots cannot, as 

 a rule, be depended upon for flowering well a second 

 year in pots, excepting such as L. speciosum, Hansom, 

 Henryi and rubellum, and the strong varieties of L. 

 longtflorum. 



In the case of those that flower well the second year 

 in pots, it is best to turn the bulbs out of the pots when 

 the stems have died away, and remove the old soil, cleaning 

 the bulbs by picking off any decayed or decaying parts, 



