AND THEIE CULTURE. 5 



GROWTH. 



The growth of Lily bulbs is a matter of great importance to the 

 cultivator, and it is now fairly settled that out- door culture the 

 bulbs being planted in the open border is best for the majority of 

 Lilies, the only exceptions being, perhaps, Philippinense and its 

 late-flowering Indian ally, Wallichianum. A deep, rich, sandy loam, 

 on a gravelly bottom, seems to suit all the strong-growing European 

 Lilies, and also the more robust of the Japanese kinds. Auratum, 

 Specwsum, Testacewn, and even the creamy-tinted, wax-like, Neil- 

 gherrense grow well, perhaps best, in the cool, deep, peaty soil 

 of Ehododendron beds in positions sheltered from rough winds, 

 where they receive copious supplies of water during hot summer 

 weather. Mr. Mclntosh adopted this last system of culture some 

 years ago, and every one who has stood beneath his 11 feet high 

 clumps of Auratum will agree with me that for Auratum no other 

 system of culture is as good. A third group of Lilies, such as 

 .Canadense, Pardalinum, Superbum, and their varieties, may be 

 designated ' ' bog Lilies," since they like a rather wet peaty compost, 

 or, perhaps, I should say, the comparatively dry banks of a stream, 

 where their roots can descend to the moisture when in full growth. 

 Neil gher reuse, Wallicliianum, Philippinense } and one or two others, 

 although doubtless quite hardy in sheltered positions on warm, dry 

 soils, can scarcely be looked upon as likely to make a perennial 

 growth in the open air generally, and had perhaps best be treated as 

 pot Lilies, or, better still, they may be planted out in the light, rich 

 border of a conservatory from which frost is excluded. 



As a rule, of course all additions to the weight of bulbs are due to 

 the action of the foliage, but, as we shall see presently in the case 

 of Neil gherrense, a bulb may grow and form young bulbs out of its 

 own substance, long before the end of the stolon or under-ground 

 stem has appeared above the ground, and, when the old scales of Lily 

 bulbs are used for propagating purposes, this growth, or rather change 

 of form and substance, takes place to a considerable extent before any 

 foliage makes its appearance, the inherent growth power of these 

 bulb-scales being closely analogous to that of seeds. It will be seen 

 that the growth of a flowering bulb of a Lily is more complicated 

 than that of a non-flowering bulb, since in the latter all the root- 

 power of the plant is expended in taking up nourishment for the 

 enlargement and fattening, or plumping out of the bulb ; but in the 

 case of a flowering bulb, there is a struggle continually going on 

 between the flower-buds, flowers, and seed-pods, and the bulbs, 

 which shall obtain most of the nutriment collected and elaborated by 

 the roots and leaves. Thus, it is possible for the bulb to be itself 

 absorbed by the act of flowering, and this is nearly always the case 

 when flowering bulbs are planted in small pots of poor compost, or in 

 any medium which cripples root action. Lily bulbs should never be 



