AND THEIR CULTUKE. 191 



the old bulbs, as that is the proof that these new bulbs are those which 

 will flower next year. Let all other bulbs, large or small, be picked off 

 and put aside for planting in a separate place until they also have flowered. 

 Carefully examine the new bulbs, so as to make sure they are cleared of 

 vermin, and when ' this is done, replant either singly or in clamps, in 

 congenial soil, and 'leave the rest to nature. It is said by some writers 

 that, ' Lilies are not ripe for lifting or replanting, until the growth ceases, 

 and the stems and leaves die down,' but this is a fallacy which whatever 

 may be its value as regards Tulips, Hyacinths, and some other bulbous 

 plants is altogether inconsistent with the constitution of the Lily. I 

 have cut down the stems when the plants were in full and fresh bloom, 

 without in the slightest degree* affecting the growth of the new bulbs, 



* Dunodin, here, pushes his theories too far. 



Such Lilies as Candidum, Excelsum, Martagon, and in general all N". American forms, 

 whose flower stems may be cut oft', and yet leave ample foliage below for the requirements 

 of the plants, would receive no damage from the operation of removing the flowers ; but 

 other kinds such as Auratum, Umbellatmn, Thunbergianum, Speciosum, <C-c., whose 

 stems are provided largely with foliage right up to the flowers, receive much injury by 

 the ruthless cutting away of foliage, when removing the blooms for exhibition and 

 decoration. 



Compare on this head the remarks on pages 34, 47, and 87, also the following letters 

 of Air. Hovey, &c. : 



"We have found, after 30 years' constant experience, with thousands of bulbs of 

 Spedosum, and its varieties, that the bulbs are injured or killed outright, just in pro- 

 portion to the time at which cutting down is performed. If a plant be broken off in 

 June, when 67 inches high, the bulb will die ; if in July, the bulb will go off into 

 divisions of small bulbs, and if in September, the bulb will be about half-size. Our 

 antunmal exhibition always takes place about the middle of September, and we usually 

 ut from 50 to 100 spikes, an operation which weakens the bulb so much, that they only 

 produce a very few flowers the next year. In the case of any rare and choice kinds, we 

 do not allow them to be cut on any account." C. M. Hovcy, Garden, vol. 13, p. 196. 



"It does no more injury to cut away the flower stem of Candidum, when in full bloom, 

 than it L does to cut off the flower 'spike of a Hyacinth, or of a Gladiolus, the flowering 

 shoot of an Amaryllis, or the bloom of a Guernsey Lily. 



"The leaves are all left, and these are all that are needed to produce a sound and 

 perfect bulb. 



"If this were not so, it would have been discovered long ago ; with Lilies, however, 

 that have no leaves, only such as grow upon thei flower stem, it is quite another, and a 

 totally different thing. Nature 'points this out. If the flower stem of Giganteum be 

 cut away, as soon as it makes its appearance, the leaves and bulb will increase in size ; 

 l)iit if allowed to grow and bloom, it so absorbs the nutriment of both, that nothing but 

 -weak offsets, are the result. 



" When the Hyacinth growers of Haarlem, tell us that the bulbs, are just as good, when 

 the foliage is all cut off : or the Gladiolus cultivators of France, that cutting away the 

 leaves does no harm or when the Amaryllis growers destroy all their leaves, I should 

 believe that cutting down such Lilies as make no root or bulb leaves, does no harm. As 

 to Candidum, when the flower stem is cut away, the bulb is greatly benefitted, just as 

 removing the flowers or buds from any plant increases its growth and vigour ; the leaves 

 all remain, and it is these that nourish and sustain the root." C. M. Hovcy, Garden, 

 vol. 13, p. 387. 



But T^y the rera*val of the flowers only, and not the leaves, the exhaustion of the 

 effort of producing the bloom, and of the production of seed, is avoided; consequently by 

 leaving the foliage mnmutilated, you contribute 'greatly to the growth and development 

 of the new forming bulb. On this head compare the following remarks : 



" I find removing the flowers, throws the whole energy of the plant into the stem, and as 

 a consequence, far finer bnlTss are the result ; this I discovered accidently, in 1865. Mr. 

 Kay, the late Gwrator 'f the Dean Cemetery in Edinburgh, 'had a very fine bulb of 



