26 , THE GARDEN 



THE BED OF LILY OF THE VALLEY 



There is truly no other spot in the whole garden from which one may- 

 reap a larger reward for little work than the lily-of-the-valley bed. Too 

 often, however, the amateur gardener, having managed to grow himself a 

 fine bed, follows the plan: "Let well enough alone." As a sure result of 

 following this homely old falsehood (in this case), he will find his spring 

 blossoms deteriorating in a year or two, and, finally, if something is not 

 done for the welfare of the roots, they will die out. 



What is the trouble? Simply this, the roots have developed them- 

 selves to death, and by a constant overcrowding of a space intended only 

 for a few plants, but ultimately occupied by five times the original number, 

 a very unhappy result has obtained. The plants starved to death. 



I know no perennial that will develop more quickly than lily of the 

 valley. Each small "pip" is provided with a regular tuft of thick white 

 cord-like rootlets, twisting in and out, each one from three to six inches 

 long. From the base of the root of the "pip," when multiplication takes 

 place, issues a long runner that burrows its way along through the sub- 

 soil until it finds a suitable place through which to push its way into the 

 upper world. These runners serve to bind the many roots of the various 

 plants into a firm, unyielding mass, through which nothing can penetrate. 

 You can readily understand, then, how serious the condition of overcrowd- 

 ing will soon become, more especially when this added information is given, 

 namely, every flowering "pip," as well as every strong, healthy plant, multi- 

 plies from three to four times every season. 



Think, then, of the food necessary to even a small bed. The original 

 amount of nutritious material in the earth of the bed will soon be con- 

 sumed, and a fresh supply must be obtained by addition from some source. 



This can only be done by a thorough good mulching with old, well- 

 rotted stable manure. The material should be spread thickly on top of the 

 bed. Nor is it necessary to add an inter-layer of old leaves and such debris 

 between the mulching and the bed, because, as a rule, the dark green 

 shield-like leaves of the strongest of the plants remain attached to the 

 roots all through the winter. These form an ever-present inter-layer against 

 any too close effects from the mulching. 



Every lily of the valley bed should be thoroughly mulched each 

 autumn. The manure should be spread over the beds before the fall rains 

 set in, so that a good percentage of nitrogenous material is swept down 

 into the earth, to be almost at once drunk up by the countless roots. 



While we do not advise a complete transplanting of the beds each fall, 

 yet it is wise to thin out each bed, at least 50 per cent., each September. 

 This time will allow the roots to become settled in their new beds (those 

 that were removed and transplant^), and will not set the plants so far 

 back that bloom will fail to appear the following spring. 



LILACS 



Of late year lilacs have been so assiduously cultivated and improved 

 that we have now some superb varieties. No garden should be without Its 

 one or more specimens. 



Lilac bushes are not easy to deal with, although most people think 

 that all that is necessary to do is to simply plant their shrubs and left them 

 grow. Much depends upon the pruning, because according to the manner 

 •f prmiing depends the crop of bloom. 



Another thing, keep down all the young shoots, called suckers, that 

 ■pring up so freely from the base of the tree. These suckers are a 

 tremendous drain on the general vitality of the root, and usurp nourish- 

 Ment that should be directed towards the production of bloom. Cut these 



