CULTIVATION AND ANALYSIS OF PLANTS. 



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mold, with which should be incorporated a small quantity of coarse, clean sand. The bulbs 

 are placed a little below the surface of the soil, which should be pressed firmly around 

 them. They arc then stored in a cool, shady place where there is no wet, and only 

 enough water given them to slightly moisten the earth until they begin to show growth, 

 when they should receive a liberal supply. The stalks grow from two to three feet, and 

 occasionally much higher, requiring to be propped up with stakes. When in bloom they 

 thrive best in a dry, airy place, as they are liable to contract spots from dampness. After 

 the growing season is over, the quantity of water must be diminished until the stalk 

 dies down, when tlic bulb should be taken from the old earth and repotted directly in 

 fresh soil, as they thus give finer bloom the next season. Several plants can be put in 

 an extra-sized pot, but for a single bulli a six-inch one is the size. 



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LILY OF TULJ Y^VLLEY. 



'UCH esteemed for both beauty and fragrance, though in size but 

 an insignificant plant, this lovely genus of the Lily family is 

 extensively grown, more especially in the vicinity of all great 

 I -T^ ^:^^-^^ ^j-T^ cities, for bouquets, baskets, and all manner of ornamental pur- 

 L o.^^'S^^^^^S^ poses. So great is the demand that the Hollanders have built up 

 ui immense trade in the tubers, or rhizomas, which they grow with 

 more success than any other nation, and ship by tens of thousands to 

 the civilized world. They grow wild in the valleys of the Alle- 

 s uid in the mountainous sections of our Southern States, as well as in 

 localities throughout Great Britain and Ireland. But however abundant 

 those used for cultivation are nearly all the product of the Haarlem 

 beds, imported and sold by the seedsmen at a price so low that it does not pay 

 to attempt the domestication of the wild ones. For house decoration the rhizomas should 

 be planted in tour or five-inch pots, in August, and the pots plunged to the rim in a cool, 

 shady place, where they may be left until cold weather. Then they should be set in a 

 shed or other convenient place, sheltered from the sun, and allowed to freeze hard. After 

 all this, they are to be placed in a cool, dark room, where the temperature is above frost, 

 from whence they may be brought forward, a few at a time, and at intervals during 

 the winter, to insure a succession in flowering. For outdoor cultivation the tubers are 

 usually planted in the fall, and covered to a depth of one or two inches, with an 

 upper covering of fallen leaves of about the same depth. To exhibit their attractions 

 to the best advantage, they should be planted in a shady situation ; they will, however, 

 grow more rapidly in the full blaze of the sun, but also perish more rapidly there. 

 The soil best adapted to their growth comprises two parts in five of leaf-mold, one of 

 good cow-manure, one of sand and one of loam. Outdoors they can be left to nature's 

 supplies in the matter of watering, but indoors neither the roots nor even the leaves 

 should be allowed to become entirely dry, much less to remain so for any length of time. 



