BULBS AND THEIR CULTURE. 95 



bulbs of otber kinds. Tbe colors are white, yellow or 

 purple, solid or striped. 



Freesias (Fig. 30) are generally placed in boxes at 

 intervals during the autumn and kept upon a bench in 

 a cool greenhouse, or in a pit, for five or six weeks, 

 after which they are gradually brought into heat. 



lilies (Harrisii and candidum) 



The lilies require about the same care as the above 

 mentioned bulbs. They are frequently placed in six- 

 inch pots, or in boxes about five inches deep. The 

 Lilium Harrisii or Easter Lily (Fig. 31) is sometimes 

 received from Bermuda, where it is extensively grown, 

 by the middle of July, but the bulbs are immature, and 

 far better and about as early flowers will be obtained if 

 they are given another month in which to develop. 



Even after the pots have become filled with roots, 

 several months must pass before the flowers will develop. 

 As soon as Jthe flower stalks start, the lilies should be 

 placed in a cool house for a week or so, before being 

 placed in the room where they are to be forced. A very 

 high temperature is required to bring them in by Christ- 

 mas, but from the middle of January until April, flow- 

 ers can be had in abundance, if proper steps were taken 

 to secure a succession. Those for Easter should be 

 brought into the house from the 10th to the 15th of 

 November. 



Lilium candidum and L. longiflorum require ex- 

 actly the same care as the Bermuda lily, but they are 

 stronger growers and do not force as readily. The 

 bulbs of all the lilies are graded according to their diam- 

 eter, the size ranging from twelve to eighteen centime- 

 ters (5-7 inches) to thirty or thirty-five centimeters, or 

 about twelve to fourteen inches in diameter. The sec- 

 ond size, eight to ten inches, is generally used for 

 forcing. 



