LIL 



[ 552 ] 



LIM 



mulching of dung on the surface of 

 the soil. Water freely, and give plenty 

 of air. The culture in the air is the 

 same as is required by L. candid urn, 

 with the addition of a covering of dry 

 ashes over the bulbs in winter. 



LILY. Li' Hum. 



LILY-HYACINTH. Sci'lla Li'lia-hya- 

 ci'nthus. 



LILY-OF-THE -VALLEY. Convalla'rlama- 

 ja'lis. We know a garden where no 

 one can flower the lily-of-the- valley 

 well, and we also know places where it 

 flowers in the greatest abundance with- 

 out any care whatever. We have seen 

 it growing naturally, by the acre, in a 

 shady wood, the soil being mere sand, 

 enriched by the fallen leaves ; we have 

 dug it out in that wood, and found all 

 the roots within three inches of the 

 surface. We have also seen it flower 

 abundantly on a south border, in a rich 

 kitchen-garden soil. Where it refuses 

 to succeed we would make a bed for it 

 on the north side of a Avail ; dig out 

 the natural soil a foot deep, and drain 

 the bottom ; then fill up the bed with 

 a compost of light sandy earth and 

 rotten leaves, half of each; press it 

 down gently when within two inches of 

 the top ; then lay the roots regularly, 

 four inches apart, all over this surface, 

 and then cover them two inches deep, 

 and give them a good watering with a 

 rose -pot ; and, after that, we would 

 cover the whole with an inch of quite 

 rotten leaves, and water them once a 

 week the following summer. February, 

 or early in March, is the best time to 

 plant them ; and the third season they 

 are in full perfection, and will last for 

 ten or a dozen years. 



Forcing. Pot them in thirty-two- 

 sized pots, filled to within three and a 

 half inches of the rim with rich loam, 

 upon which the roots are closely placed, 

 and then covered about two inches in 

 thickness with equal parts of leaf-mould 

 and sand ; they are then well watered, 

 so as to settle the mould about the 

 roots ; place them on a shelf near the 

 glass, in a moist stove or forcing-house, 

 the temperature of which may range 

 from 65 to 75, and take care that the 

 soil does not become dry. When they 

 are so far advanced that the plants 



show their heads of flowers, remove 

 them into a warm greenhouse, still 

 placing them near the glass, until as 

 they advance in growth they are with- 

 drawn by degrees into a shaded part of 

 the house, from whence they are re- 

 moved to the drawing-room as required, 

 their places to be immediately filled 

 with others, which are similarly treated, 

 and thus an ample succession will be 

 kept up. Care and attention are re- 

 quisite in lifting and selecting the 

 plants for forcing ; they require a mi- 

 nute examination to distinguish those 

 that will flower from those that will 

 not, the only difference being that the 

 buds of the former are more round 

 and short than those of the latter. 

 Florist's Jo urn. 



LILY-PINK. Aphylla'nthes. 



LILY-THOEN. Catesla'a. 



LIME. C Virus lime'tta. 



LIME is valuable as a manure, for 

 some one or more of its salts enter 

 into the composition of every vegetable. 

 But it is not the lime of every district 

 that is suitable for the purpose. Some 

 specimens contain a very large propor- 

 tion of magnesia, which, absorbing car- 

 bonic acid very slowly, remains in a 

 caustic state, to the injury of the roots 

 of the plants, and the diminution of 

 benefit from the carbonic acid evolved 

 by the decomposing constituents of the 

 soil. Neither can the gardener apply 

 it to all his soils with advantage. Thus, 

 peat and bog earth are beneficial to 

 the plants grown upon them by their 

 containing Gallic and other acids which 

 lime removes. To garden soil of the 

 usual staple about fifty bushels of lime 

 per acre is a sufficient quantity. If the 

 soil be clayey the quantity may be 

 doubled. A very excellent manure is 

 formed by mixing one bushel of salt 

 with every two bushels of lime. Lime 

 cannot be applied to the soil too fresh 

 from the kiln ; for if allowed to absorb 

 carbonic acid from the air, it is rapidly 

 converted into chalk. 



When crops are devastated by the slug, 

 dress them some evening so as to render 

 the surface of the soil quite white, with 

 caustic lime, during the promise of a 

 few days' dry weather. It is instant 

 destruction to every slug it falls upon ; 



