EASTER LILIES S 



temperature was 70° F. This would indicate that with proper attention 

 given to storage immediately upon arrival, the bulbs can be kept relatively 

 cool even during an unexpected period of warm weather. With present 

 efficient wholesale methods of handling bulbs, however, there is little or no 

 need for the grower to be greatly concerned about storage facilities be- 

 cause the usual practice of dealers is to ship the bulbs at any time the 

 florist is ready to plant them. 



Potting Methods 



Tlie 7-9 inch bulbs are usually planted in 5 inch pots and the 8-10 or 

 9-10 inch are put in 5^ or 6 inch pots. Some growers plant the bulb 

 rather deeply in the pot and fill the pot only one-half to two-thirds full 

 of soil. Later on, after some root action has taken place and the bulb 

 forms a shoot, the pot is filled with soil. Another method is to fill the 

 entire pot with soil when the bulb is planted. There is, as far as known, 

 no particular advantage of one method over the other. Lilium longMorum 

 gigantcum is a stem rooting type of lily; therefore, the bulb should be planted 

 deeply enough so that the portion of the stem where the roots develop 

 is below the surface of the soil. The stem roots serve to anchor the 

 plant more firmly in the soil and are assumed to aid in absorbing water 

 and nutrients. Stem roots have never been removed to determine the 

 e.xtent of their nutritional function, but it has been observed that with 

 very shallow-planted bulbs the plants bloomed just as well with the stem 

 roots only partially covered. 



Practice of Removal of Scales from Bulbs 



The fleshy scales that make up the lily bulb function as storage organs 

 for foods necessary to sustain the growth of the flower shoot and roots 

 until sufficient leaves have developed to take care of the nutritional needs 

 of the plant. On most lily bulbs there are a number of loosely attached, 

 browned, shriveled, or broken scales. It is a common practice for some 

 growers to remove a portion of the scales prior to planting. 



Growers remove the outer, looser scales from bulbs presumably to pre- 

 vent trouble from disease and mites. The value of such a practice is 

 questionable so far as disease is concerned; it seems more reasonable to 

 believe that removal of scales might render the bulbs more susceptible by 

 leaving open wounds where infection might occur. Even though it has 

 been intimated by some workers that the removal of scales and clipping 

 the tips of others will hasten rooting of the bulbs, it is questionable whether 

 the beneficial effect is proportional to the labor of handling * large quan- 

 tity of bulbs in this manner. 



The number of scales which may be removed from lily bulbs without 

 injury- appears to be determined by the size of the bulbs. A 7-9 inch bulb 

 might be affected more by the removal of a certain number of scales than 

 an 8-10 or 9-10 inch bulb having a greater number of scales. Pfeiffer (9) 

 has noted that for 7-9 inch bulbs the average scale count per bulb for 

 three seasons varied from 50 to 70, 66 to 75, and 45 to 65 respectively. 

 The removal of 15 scales reduces the vitality of a 50-scale bulb more than 

 it does with a 75-scale bulb. 



In an experiment at Waltham using 7-9 inch bulbs, scales were removed 



