8 Lilium auratum. 



lightly covered with leaves ; but, as the weather grew cooler, more leaves, 

 to the depth of about four inches, were placed over them, and tie whole 

 covered with evergreen-branches. This covering was removed as soon as 

 the frost was out of the ground. Many which remained dormant the first 

 season now pushed up vigorous shoots ; but they shared a similar fate to 

 those in pots, with the exception that those which did bloom gare from 

 four to ten well-formed flowers, and were more vigorous in growth than 

 those cultivated in pots. Upon examination of the diseased roots, the 

 wire-worm was at work the same as upon those in pots. At the time of 

 planting, we furnished a friend in a neighboring town with several bulbs, 

 who planted them in a mixed border with other flowers, without any prepa- 

 ration. His soil was a reddish, friable loam, with a gravelly subsoil, and 

 had not been manured for two years. The result was, his bulbs all 

 lived, made vigorous growth, bloomed profusely, gradually matured, and, 

 when taken up in the fall, were found to have trebled in size, besides form- 

 ing numerous offsets ; while those planted in the carefully-prepared bed 

 above alluded to had increased but little in size, and showed a strong 

 tendency to divide up into small bulbs. 



Last spring we received another lot from Japan, which were shipped, 

 through mistake, by a sailing-vessel, and were from four to five months on 

 the voyage. They were in very fair order, though considerably shrivelled 

 by being so long out of the ground. The success of our friend induced 

 us to adopt his mode of culture. The bulbs were planted in common gar- 

 den-soil, where dahlias had been grown the previous year, without any 

 additional manure. The result was a fine, healthy growth ; a profusion of 

 flowers : and, upon examination this fall, we find the bulbs much increased 

 in size, well matured, with no s'^ns of disease or the wire-worm; present- 

 ing a favorable contrast to the above-mentioned bed, which had been so 

 carefully treated. 



We were of the opinion, and subsequent experiments have proved, that 

 our bulbs were killed by kindness. They do not require a rich soil, and 

 will grow in any common garden-soil where the tiger-lily will grow. 



To those who intend planting we would say. Select an open spot in your 

 flower-border fully exposed to the sun, where water does not stand in win- 

 ter. If the soil is poor, enrich with a small quantity only of thoroughly-de- 



