88 NOTES ON LILIES 



second growth was made by maiden bulbs which were attached to 

 bulbs which had flowered. I dare say I found 200 or 300 bulbs 

 similar to the one sent ; in nearly all cases I broke the stem clean 

 out ; they are now forming a new shoot from the base of the old one, 

 but I do not expect they will flower." 



INCREASE. 



Bulbous plants possess an advantage over many others, inasmuch 

 as they are able to reproduce themselves or even increase themselves 

 without the aid of seeds, nothwithstanding which fact, however, the 

 latter organs are in most cases very freely produced, and this is 

 especially the case with Lilies. Apart, however, from the natural 

 processes of division and seminal reproduction the cultivator enhances 

 the multiplication of these charming flowers by layering the flower- 

 stems (after having removed the flower-buds) in light, moist compost, 

 thus facilitating the production of the axillary bulbs, which in 

 the case of Bulbiferum and Tigrinum are plentifully produced without 

 any artificial assistance whatever. It is now well known that by 

 removing the flower-buds of Lilies as soon as they appear a much 

 larger bulb-growth is obtained; but it does not appear to be so 

 generally known that this removal of the flowers tends greatly to 

 promote the development of axillary or stem bulbs, and especially is 

 this the case if the flower- stems be layered in leaf -mould, or any 

 other light moist compost calculated to foster the growth of the 

 little bulblets after they appear. One Lily at least (Neilgherrense) 

 naturally adopts this method of reproducing itself, as will hereafter 

 be illustrated, and there is no artificial method of Lily propagation 

 more deserving of notice than this by amateurs, especially as it is, 

 after seeds (and raising seedling Lilies is a long process, as one must 

 wait from three to ten years ere they bloom), the only method of 

 propagation, which can be carried out without materially weakening 

 the flowering bulbs. Another excellent plan of propagation, and 

 one long practised by the Dutch bulb growers, is to strip the scales 

 off old bulbs and plant them in light rich soil, after which they are 

 treated much in the same way as bulbs raised from seed, but they 

 come into bloom at least a year sooner.* Another plan followed, is 

 to overhaul in autumn the stock of bulbs, and after taking out the best 

 ones for planting, to throw the defective ones remaining into a large 



* " Every Lily scale if removed with a sharp knife, so as to have a small portion of the 

 base adhering to it, will produce the first year a bulb about the size of a pea, on the side 

 of the small portion of base left, and in some cases two or three bulbs. By allowing 

 these to remain in the seed pan, if not inserted too thickly at first, they form a large bulb 

 on the side of the small one. (??) They are then shaken out, and some five or six put in 

 a 6-inch pot, when some of them would bloom, but I never nllow them in their third 

 .season to do that. In the autumn they are fair-sized bulbs, when they may be planted 

 out singly, or if of the Speciosum section, four or five may be put in an 8 or 10-inch pot. " 

 JEdina, in Garden, vol. 15, p. 82. 



