232 THE MANSE GARDEN. 



do best either in single plants or in patches at inter- 

 vals. The crown-imperial, though not the most 

 showy of lilies, is a grand and elegant flower, and 

 remarkable for its rapid growth at an early period of 

 the spring. At that season of all food it is the most 

 enticing to snails. Being horribly olefiant and juicy, 

 it is probably to their palate what garlic is to a Span- 

 iard. But unfortunately for the plant, being fistular, 

 the snail perforations, resembling those of a flute, 

 admit the air direct to the heart, and death is the 

 consequence. Early in spring scoop out the earth 

 around the stems, and with it the slimy people sleep- 

 ing beside their banquet. Put a roll of stiff paper 

 round each stem, not tight, and fasten it with a pin ; 

 then draw in the earth, leaving the paper two inches 

 higher. The snails do not find their way over. 



Marigold Only to be noticed far this, that the 

 exquisite sorts, African and French, are very fre- 

 quently sown in vain. See conclusion to the list of 

 annuals. 



Narcissus, or Daffodil Of which there are up- 

 wards of thirty varieties: the sweet-scented, major, 

 minor, poeticus of various sorts, polyanthus or many- 

 flowered ; various sorts of yellow, of which the jon- 

 quil, one of the rush- leaved kind, is the sweetest. 

 The fading of the stalks indicates the season for 

 gathering the bulbs which being not scaly but 

 hard may be dried in the shade and kept till Sep- 

 tember or October. The rush-leaved sorts seem to 

 like moisture, but that of loam, not clay. In order 

 to have fine flowers the roots must be taken up every 

 two years. Without this care of the finer varieties, 

 the leaves fall down like rank grass, the flowers are 

 few, and the stems weak and sickly. 



