1848. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



31 



LILIUM SPECIOSUM. (Fig. 7.) 



roots — always remembering that perfect drain- 

 age, and plenty of it, are indispensable to success. 



Propo^ation. — By seeds, which are obtained 

 in abundance in this climate, if the pistils are 

 fertilized. These should be sown as soon as 

 ripe, in shallow pans, in which they may remain 

 for one or two years ; tliey should then be trans- 

 ferred to six inch pot?, four to six bulbs around 

 the edges of the same — and finally, singly, in 

 pots for flowering. 



By offsets and hy young bulbs. — These are 

 formed at the crown of the old bulb, and also at 

 the axils of the leaves. Their growth is accele- 

 rated by the placing of pieces of peat around 

 the stem. 



By scales, from the outside of the bulb, potted 

 in peat and sand, and subjected to a slight heat ; 

 these do not vegetate rapidly, but eventually 

 make good bulbs, and those scales may be divided 

 longitudinally into two or three parts with the 

 knife, each one of which will form at the bottom 

 a new plant. 



Hardiness and adaptation to the open ground. 

 — That the Japan Lilies and their offspring, 

 may become tenants of our gardens, and suffi- 

 ciently hardy to endure our climate, is much to 

 to be desired. The scarcity and high price of 

 tliese have, until recently, been a hindi-ance to 

 much experience in this respect. I can, how- 

 ever, state some facts, v/hich give great reason 



to expect that they or their hybrids will prove 

 so. Soon after the introduction of the L. sped- 

 osum, a bulb stood the winter perfectly well, 

 protected only by a pot, in the garden of a gen- 

 tleman in this city — and I learn that one of the 

 same sort has, for two or three years, remained 

 uninjured in a garden in the city of New York. 

 My own experience is quite encouraging. 

 Eighteen bulbs were planted in the open ground 

 last November, in a bed of Tree Pteonias, be- 

 tween the rows; these were covered with four 

 inches of peat, and when the ground closed up, 

 about the same depth of sea-weed was added to 

 the covering ; every hulb is alive, and now 

 making vigorous growth, It is sufficiently evi- 

 dent, that if the Japan Lilies prove hardy, their 

 cultufe in the open ground, and in a deep rich 

 border, will be of the easiest description. 



General treatment. — I am now supposing the 

 course of in-door culture. The dormant bulbs 

 having been potted, they should be placed in a 

 forcing pit, with a little gentle heat, removing 

 them as near to the light as possible, as soon as 

 the leaves begin to unfold themselves ; water 

 must be given sparingly during the first period 

 of growth, or until new roots have been formed ; 

 after which, it may be administered plentifully 

 whenever the surface of the soil becomes dry, 

 remembering the good old rule that the supply 

 of water must always be in proportion to the 

 supply of solar light. 



