52 



Notes and Gleanings. 



keeping them well supplied with moisture up to October, when the supply is 

 diminished ; but, so long as there is foliage, give enough water to keep it from 

 flagging. The pots are top-dressed in January, removing the soil down to the 

 roots ; and it is replaced with rich, rather strong loam from rotted turfs. Do 

 not disturb the roots or interfere with the ball ; but, if the drainage be defective, 

 rectify it. Plunge the pots in a hot-bed ; encourage growth with water as required, 

 and atmospheric moisture ; and in May shift the plants into a larger size of pot, 

 not disturbing the roots or ball beyond removing the crocks and any soil not ad- 

 hering to the roots. Return the plants to the hot-bed, and keep them growing 

 as long as they appear disposed to do so, giving a good supply of water ; and, 

 when growth ceases, remove them from the hot-bed by degrees, and set them on 

 a shelf in the full sun in the stove, giving water so as to prevent the leaves flag- 

 ging ; diminishing it, however, when these show signs of going off, and keep the 

 soil rather dry during the winter. These plants, by the third year, will have 

 strong bulbs for flowering ; and the treatment is then the same as for old plants. 

 If inconvenient to sow the seed when ripe, it may b^ kept in a dry place, and 

 sown early in February. We have kept it in silver sand in a flower-pot in a 

 stove until February ; and we cannot say which is the better plan : both proved 

 good. — English Journal of Horticulture. 



LiLiUM AURATUM. — Some fine examples of Lilium atiratu7n have been 

 bloomed this year. At Melchet Court, Mr. Cross had one bulb with three stems 

 about eight feet six inches in height, which bore respectively eighty-one, thirty-four, 

 and twenty-eight flower-buds ; besides four small offset-stems, bearing eight flow- 

 ers ; making a total of a hundred and fifty-one. In the gardens at Quarry Bank, 

 Allerton, another had five stout stems from seven feet six inches to eight feet 

 high, three having seventeen flowers each, and the other two fifteen each ; also 

 nine smaller stems from three feet to four feet in height, bearing amongst them 

 nineteen flowers ; making a hundred flowers. Mr. Tanton of Epsom had one 

 with seven stems, on which was an aggregate of fifty-two flowers ; while another 

 later spike had forty-nine well-swelled buds. Mr. Tanton grows his plants in 

 good peat, and does not shake them out when dormant ; but they are allowed 

 to start again in the same pot, and are shifted onwards in the same compost. 

 Much of the failure that sometimes takes place in the cultivation of this beauti- 

 ful lily must be attributed to the division and shaking-out of the bulbs, — opera- 

 tions which not only bruise, but actually sometimes break away, the outside ripe 

 scales, each of which forms in itself a reservoir of nutriment for future growth 

 and support. — Florist. 



Ci'ANOPHYLLUM. — This plant requires to be grown in a stove, in a strong 

 moist heat, and with just shading enough to prevent scorching. It requires 

 liberal potting when young, and to have a free open compost of rough peat and 

 sand, to which a little mellow loam may be added in the later stages. It was 

 introduced some years since from Tropical America. 



