192 NOTES ON LILIES 



which, at this time, are themselves sending down roots,* by which they 

 can gain subsistence sufficient to make them independent of the parent 

 bulbs. Those who have carefully studied the connection that exists 

 between the old and the new bulbs, will understand this. When lifting, 

 I prefer leaving a portion of tho stems in the old bulbs, as they make a 

 convenient handle for moving the new bulbs about, without rubbing and 

 breaking the scales with the hands. If this plan of lifting and replanting 

 annually, were adopted, I will venture to say, that the result would be far 

 better than by leaving the bulbs in the ground for some years undisturbed. 

 It seems to me to require no science to tell us this. If we leave the bulbs 

 in the ground for a few years, what can we expect ? the offsets, instead 

 of being removed, are growing and drawing the essential principal of life 

 out of the expectant flowering bulbs ;f and these offsets, transformed into 

 bulbules, will also generate offsets, so that all combined to the second and 

 third generations, will be drawing vitality from the fully-developed or 

 flowering-bulbs ; the very reverse of what we have in view in giving- 

 periodical supplies of nourishment in the shape of mulchings, top-dressings, 

 etc." Dunedin, Garden, vol. 13, p. '28. 



10. " Is a Lily an annual or a perennial, or is it between the two, a 

 biennial ? A Lily is not an annual, a biennial, nor a perennial. Then 

 what is it? It may be said to be somewhat like two biennials joined 

 together, but, overlapping one another in their growth ; that is, one 

 portion blooming this year, while the other is growing, preparatory to- 

 blooming next year." Garden, vol. 13, p. 385. 



Auratum, which produced seven flowers then thought something wonderful and,, 

 according to the usual practice, lie placed it, after blooming, under a stage, and allowed 

 it to stay there until next March, when lie determined to repot it. On examining it, he 

 was surprised to find the pot full of new roots ; he gave it a good shift, without disturbing 

 it more than lie could help, but May came before there were any signs of a 'stem, and 

 when one was found, it was only Ball as strong as that produced the previous year, 

 and the top was deformed. This ultimately got broken off, when the stem began to- 

 thicken enormously, so that by autumn it was more like the stump of an Hollyhock, 

 than that of Aurahnn ; besides, it formed a number of yoting bulblets at its base, and at 

 the axils of the leaves, all indicating its great strength. It was allowed to remain undis- 

 turbed that winter, and next spring it threw up a magnificent shoot 5 feet high, and 

 produced 35 perfect blooms on that one stem. This, which was thought something 

 extraordinary, was noticed in all the Edinburgh newspapers, and visited by the late 

 Mr. MacNab, and I may safely say, by hundreds of others. It really was magnificent, 

 .and even now, when I have seen hundreds of fine examples, I have never seen one 

 which I have admired more than I did that one, or one more perfectly formed. It 

 taught me that a year's rest from blooming, gives strength, and does no harm, and 

 finally, that bulblets on the stem, show signs of vif/onr, and must be considered to be a 

 natural method of increasing the plant." Edina, in Garden, vol. 15, p. 82. 



* Surely the tender ends of these new roots would be damaged and broken by the 

 process of lifting. 



t I beg again to differ. 1 have not found in the autumn, many offsets, either on the 

 stem, or about the bulb, as large as a pea, without roots of their own ; these onsets, 

 as soon as they are as big as a nut, which does not take many weeks, have 3 or 4 

 long roots of their own, and are quite capable of taking care of themselves, without 

 drawing the vitality from the flowering bulb, which, according to Dunedin's views 

 is one year old, anil one year bigger than themselves, and must perish; itself in the 

 following autumn. How, then, can it be deprived of vitality by the Ind and 3rd 

 generation? Dunedin forgets his biennial theory; the fact, is simply this (see p. 14), 

 that bulbs when at home increase and multiply, so that every 3rd or 4th year, they must 

 be lifted, separated, and planted again with sufficient room for each bulb.. More than; 

 this is nonsense. 



