84 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



what the soil is, so long as there is the requisite amount of moisture 

 and plant food during the growing season, and perfect drainage at 

 all times. This is a very important matter and if not attended to, 

 failure is inevitable. Our Long - Island soil is naturally drained, 

 hut where this is not the ease care should be taken to plant where 

 water will not settle or where the bulbs may be kept comparatively 

 dry when at rest. If water settles about the bulbs it will either rot 

 them, or when freezing will disintegrate them. This may be 

 obviated by planting on side hills or in raised beds. Hanson's 

 system overcame all difficulties along this line. Any soil that will 

 grow good crops of other flowers or vegetables will grow good lilies, 

 if plenty of fertilizing material is used. Much difference of opinion 

 exists on this point. Some advise stable, some cow-manure; others 

 neither, using peat or leaf mould alone; and some advise commer- 

 cial fertilizers. We use a compost of vegetable matter and animal 

 manures, making up the pile in winter, and using it the following 

 fall, turning it well in the mean time. It is thoroughly rotted and 

 would nearly all pass through a sieve of one-inch mesh. We find 

 we can use this on all lilies, even seedlings and sets plowed in for 

 the large bulbs and forked in for the beds of sets and seedlings. 

 We use it also for top dressing and mulching in summer. I think 

 the commercial fertilizers containing the various elements of plant 

 food are beneficial if thoroughly incorporated in the soil. 



Much depends on the time and manner of planting. The best 

 time to plant lilies is when the tops have ripened and the leaves 

 have fallen, and a greater measure of success results if they can be 

 planted as soon as dug, before the bulbs or their roots get dry. But 

 this is impossible with bulbs not at hand. In the case of Japan 

 bulbs, their season is such that they cannot ripen the bulbs and 

 get them to us before December, when the ground is frozen. Then 

 they have to be kept until spring, or if they are expected, the bed 

 can be prepared and covered with a heavy mulch to keep out the 

 frost, when on the arrival of the bulbs they can be put in on a mild 

 day. Few bulbs are kept over winter in as good condition as they 

 were in the fall, except in cold storage. The amateur and dealer 

 who must keep them on hand often do not have a proper place to 

 keep them and they come out in the spring in too weak a state to 

 survive more than one season. In the case of lilies from India and 



