246 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS 



correct, Lilium candidum could not possibly have become 

 a popular garden plant until after Shakespeare's time, 

 and he must have referred mainly to the Lily of the 

 Valley, which is a British plant ; but it is probable that 

 the white Lily came to us much earlier than the year 

 quoted. 



The Madonna Lily. The White, Garden, or Madonna 

 Lily is a beautiful plant, tall in growth, yet not so tall 

 as the massive Japanese Lily, auratum, graceful in habit, 

 pure as snow, and powerfully perfumed. It has long 

 been a much-loved flower in cottage gardens. A cheap 

 as well as a beautiful plant, it has proved to be within 

 the means of the humblest grower of plants. Entirely 

 hardy, not particular as to soil, it has proved its readi- 

 ness to thrive in the most modest of gardens. It is 

 an early grower, and the principal trade in its bulbs is 

 done at the end of the summer and in the early autumn. 

 Those who propose to plant it might well order it with 

 their Roman Hyacinths, and although it will not be 

 ready quite so early, it will follow them in good 

 time. 



The White Lily, however, is not proof against all the 

 ills of plant flesh. It is often attacked by a fungus, and 

 whole clumps die out quickly, the bulbs rotting. The 

 disease is less common in light, sandy, well-drained soils 

 than in heavy, damp ground. Lilies, it is true, love 

 moisture, but they abhor stagnant soil. It is possible, 

 too, for the ground to be made too rich for them. If it 

 is heavy it can be made suitable by drainage, pulverisa- 

 tion, and the addition of bone flour alone. The soil 

 should be dug deeply, left lumpy on the surface, dressed 

 with burnt refuse from the garden fire, and bone flour 

 at the rate of four ounces per square yard. Light ground 

 may have manure, but it should be well-decayed stuff, 



