LIL 



[551] 



LIL 



have exhausted the soil, and it will be 

 advisable to take them up, divide them, 

 then dig holes, taking away the old ex- 

 hausted soil, and put at the bottom of 

 each hole a shovelful of rotten dung ; 

 till up with fresh earth, and plant im- 

 mediately three strong bulbs in each 

 hole, covering them about three inches 

 deep. The best time to do this is in 

 September, and the reason for planting 

 immediately, is because these bulbs 

 will not bear exposure to the air with- 

 out injury. By this treatment they 

 will llower well the next season, but 

 much finer the second. 



Insects. The most troublesome are 

 the wireworm, and the common garden 

 slay. (Which see.) Whenever a leaf 

 is observed to droop, the grub will be 

 found to be the cause. Gently remove 

 the earth near the drooping leaf, and 

 the enemy will be discovered at work. 



Diseases. The canker sometimes 

 attacks the bulbs. This disease arises 

 from too much moisture in the soil. 

 This must be corrected by draining. 

 All cankered bulbs should be taken up 

 and thrown away, to prevent the con- 

 tagion from becoming general. 



LI'LIUM MA'HTAGON. Martagon or 

 Turk's-cap Lily. The propagation of 

 all the varieties of this species is the 

 same as described above for L. candl- 

 <hnn. The soil, however, should be 

 liberally mixed with sand. Some 

 species, such as L. cancolor, and L. 

 siiperbnm, require a considerable quan- 

 tity of sandy peat mixing amongst the 

 soil. 



LI'LIUM TIGM'NUM, Tiger Lily ; and 

 L. LULBI'FEKUM or AURA/XTITJM, the 

 Orange Lily, produce at the axils of the 

 leaves of the tlower- stern a considerable 

 number of small embryo bulbs. These 

 afford a ready way of propagating them. 

 Gather the bulbs as soon as they part 

 readily from the stem ; prepare a bed 

 for them, by digging it over, and ad- 

 ding some well rotted dung. Plant 

 them in rows across the bed at three 

 inches apart in the row, and nine indies 

 from row to row. Let them remain in 

 this bed for two or three years, then 

 take them up, sort the bulbs into two 

 si/ey, plant the largest in a bed of rich 

 earth, six inches apart in the row, and 



a foot between each row. Several of 

 them will flower weakly the first year, 

 but stronger the second, and will then 

 be large enough to take their place 

 amongst the old strong bulbs. The 

 smaller sized bulbs should be planted 

 again rather thickly, and will afford a 

 second crop of flowering bulbs the 

 second year. The other points of sum- 

 mer and winter culture are similar to 

 those required by L. candid-urn, ex- 

 cepting in one particular. As the 

 flower-stems advance in growth, they 

 put forth a number of young roots 

 from the stem above the bulb ; when 

 that is perceived, place round each 

 stem some rough hard pieces of dung 

 for these roots to strike into ; this 

 will encourage the flower-stems to 

 grow strongly, and flower finely, be- 

 sides increasing very much the size of 

 the bulbs below. 



LI'LIUM LANCIFO'TJUM and its varieties, 

 pnnctatum and specioswn. This is the 

 finest of all the genus. The petals 

 turn back like those of thei. martayon. 

 It throws out roots above the bulbs, 

 like L. tif/rimim, but does not produce 

 incipient bulbs in the axils of the 

 leaves, like the latter species, and must, 

 therefore, be propagated like L. can- 

 diditm, by offsets. This fine species, in 

 the southern parts of Britain, is hardy 

 enough to bear cultivating in the 

 open air, like the rest of the genus ; 

 but it is worthy of being cultivated in 

 pots to bloom in the greenhouse, every- 

 where in this country, flowering in 

 .Tune and July, when the generality of 

 the usual inhabitants are enjoying the 

 open air. To cultivate it for that pur- 

 pose, pot the larger bulbs in eleven- 

 inch pots. If bulbs are plentiful, put 

 three in each pot. Do this early in 

 March, and use a rich sandy compost. 

 Place them in a pit or frame sheltered 

 from frost, by covering with mats, 

 giving plenty of air in mild weather, 

 but very little water. Grow /hem ax 

 slowly as possible, so that they may 

 have a large strength of roots to cause 

 a strong growth. When the frosts are 

 over, plunge them in a bed of old tan 

 till the greenhouse is thinned of its 

 plants, and then bring them into their 

 place ; put pans under the pots, and a 



