Limatodes 



( 20) 



Lime 



Culture in the Garden and Grounds. Lily of 

 the Valley is charming when naturalised in the 

 shadier portions of the grounds. In the garden it is 

 hest cultivated in beds, renewed occasionally by 

 sorting out the smaller crowns and replanting the 

 larger, after the bed has been well manured or 

 filled with fresh soil. February and March are good 

 months for this, when the weather is suitable. 

 With proper cultivation good crowns for forcing 

 may be grown at home. 



Cultivation in Pots and for Forcing. For early 

 forcing the Berlin crowns are preferred to the 

 Dutch ones, and ought to be placed in heat as 

 early as the middle of November for Christmas 

 bloom, but retarded Lily of the Valley is often 

 more satisfactory for the earliest work. Place the 

 crowns in pots or boxes about 1" apart, covering 

 the roots, but not the crowns, with a small quantity 

 of light soil or fibre, and covering the whole with 

 moss. Light should also be excluded until some 

 growth has been made, when it may be gradually 

 admitted. The pots or boxes may either be plunged 

 in .1 bottom heat of 85 in a house with a moist 

 atmosphere and a temperature of from 65 to 75, 

 or be put on a shelf in one with a similar heat. 

 Water about the same temperature as that of the 

 structure must be given carefully, as, if the plants 

 become too dry, failure will result. Clumps of 

 Lily of the Valley are also used for later work, the 

 clumps being similarly covered and treated to the 

 crowns. It ought to be mentioned that retarded 

 crowns should not be subjected to much heat at 

 first, but started in a cold frame. For forcing, only 

 large, plump crowns should be used. 



Varieties : 



Besides the Berlin ami Dutch vars. there are 

 several other forms. Fortin's, or Convallaria 

 majalis grandiflora, is good for any purpose, and 

 lias finer spikes than the common one. Prolificans 

 is good for outdoor work. There are also forms of 

 the ordinary C. majalis with double flowers, rose 

 flowers (white under glass), and with gold or silver 

 striped leaves. 



LIMATODES (<-c CALANTHE 

 AND PHAIUS). 



LIME. 



Lime in its natural state is most familiar as 

 limestone and chalk. It is an organic rock formed 

 in the distant past as a sedimentary deposit under 

 the ocean, and is composed of the shelly coverings 

 of tiny marine creatures. Such deposits are still 

 being made, to provide lime for the far distant 

 future. The value of lime in horticultural pursuits 

 can scarcely be over-estimated, but it is well to 

 remember that while it is an excellent servant it is 

 a bad master. In its commonly seen and pure 

 form of quicklime, as used alike by gardener, 

 farmer, and builder, lime is the result of subjecting 

 limestone or chalk to intense heat in a kiln, 

 whereby the large percentage of carbonic acid 

 gas found in the natural or carbonate form, is 

 driven off. 



The action of lime upon soils is twofold 

 chemical and mechanical. Applied as fresh or 

 quicklime to soils containing a large amount of 

 organic matter, such as peaty soils, or land that 



lily Thorn (see Catesbrra). 



lily, Water (see Nympluca and Water IMy) . 



Umax (see Slugs}. - 



contains an accumulation of humus, lime combines 

 with the organic matter and rapidly disorganises 

 it, setting free much plant food that previously 

 was not available to the crops. It is this chemical 

 result that renders long-manured gardens so fertile 

 after liming, find it also supplies the reason why 

 new and rank soils are made sweet and fertile 

 when caustic lime is applied. Lime is a soil 

 scavenger, burning up decomposing organisms, 

 and in the process setting free food which the. 

 roots of plants are quick to take advantage of. 



Photo: L'assclld- Coiar'"! 1 - Lt '<- 



LILIUM JANKJE (see p. 19) ON ROCKWOUK. 



When lime is required simply to supply calcareous 

 matter to stone-fruits or other crops, or to improve 

 the soil texture, it is best applied in the mild or 

 slaked form, or as mortar rubbish, old plaster, etc. 



Leguminous plants benefit greatly from large 

 dressings of lime to the soil, while Grasses and 

 Potatoes also much appreciate it; but it must never 

 be forgotten that unless organic matter is supplied 

 at intervals, crops will wear out or cease to be 

 productive on much-limed soils. In short, lime is 

 highly beneficial on heavy and freely manured 

 land, and on that containing much vegetable 

 matter, such as peats and newly turned pastures ; 

 but it is of little value on poor and light land, 

 indeed, it is in such cases often the worst dressing 

 that could be given. 



A few garden plants such as Rhododendrons, 

 those known technically as " Hard-wooded Plants," 

 and some Conifers and Ferns, strongly object to 

 lime either in the soil or in the water artificially 

 supplied. 





