THE LILY. 161 



drought ; and be enriched with a liberal quantity of well- 

 rotted manure, which should be well worked in. Each 

 autumn, a top-dressing of well -rotted manure should 

 be carefully forked in between the rows ; and, on the ap- 

 proach of winter, the bed should be covered with clean lit- 

 ter or leaves, which covering should be removed in early 

 spring. The bulbs should be planted from three to six 

 inches deep, according to their size. 



Many of the lilies force well in the greenhouse, particu- 

 larly L. candidum, speciosum, longiflorum, land folium, and 

 Japonicum ; but none are suitable for parlor culture. There 

 are about seventy-five well-known species and varieties ; and 

 new species are being discovered, and new hybrids produced, 

 every year.* 



The characteristics of a good lily are as follow : 



LILY. 



1. The plant should be only as high from the pot to the 

 bottom flower as it is from the bottom flower to the top 

 one. The leaves should be long, and plenty of them at bot- 

 tom, and gradually shorten and lessen in number as they 

 approach the bottom bloom. 



2. The individual bloom should be large, and composed 



* See " Garden Flowers." 



