32 ARISTOCRATS OF THE GARDEN 



shrubs depend upon whether the particular species of 

 Lily loves loam or humus. For my own part I would 

 keep away from peat except for swamp Lilies and use 

 fibrous loam, sand, and leafsoil, the latter in increas- 

 ing proportion as to species that grow naturally in 

 fairly open country, thickets, or woods. 



Another and very obvious deduction is the im- 

 portance of mulching. In every garden much ground 

 is bare of vegetation and fully exposed to the sun and 

 elements. In spring, as the frost disappears, an in- 

 spection will show that this ground is fissured and 

 furrowed in many directions and any kind of bulb 

 which had been planted in such bare soil is often more 

 or less exposed. This may be avoided and much 

 benefit bestowed on all bulbs by covering them in 

 autumn with a mulch of rotted leaves or exhausted 

 manure. 



Strictly speaking, a bulb is a bud just as much so as 

 the winter-bud of a Hickory or Horsechestnut, but 

 with this difference: its scales are fleshy storehouses of 

 starch and other food reserves instead of merely dry 

 and chaffy protective scales, and roots are emitted 

 from the base. These basal roots anchor the bulb 

 and supply it with water and certain food salts. If 

 we examine Lilies like L. Henryi, L. auratum, and 

 L. regale we find that the underground part of the 



