22 



The Florists^ Review 



Ski'tk.miskh S, lirjl 



^ 



Offices of the Armstrong Nurseries, at Ontario, Cal. 



ors when llicrc is smIc for tliciii. It 

 lias been I'diind tliat it is jiracticaljlc t<> 

 cut olT lialf of till' stt'ui in the first 

 tlowcriii^' of the sct'dliiifjs in the ^'rcfii- 

 housc and still jircscrvc the hulbs for 

 starting' vt'j;<'tat ive jirojiagat ion by 

 jiTantin^; out in the spriiij;. The jiots, 

 after the eiittinji, are drieil off rather 

 (|uiekly and the bulbs are left in the soil 

 until ready to plant out. There are no 

 data on the eoniparat ive value of stocks 

 thus flowereij and tliosi,' whi(di havi> had 

 their tojts cut off and are jilanted at 

 normal dejiths outdoors to tlower the 

 next year. The bulbs are, without much 

 doubt, ^s•eakened by this cuttiii^x i'"'' 

 (|uick dryinj; off, but they bloom well 

 afjaiii in late July in the held and aji- 

 jiear to recujierate jurfcctly in one 

 season. 



In norm.-il ve}^etati\(' ]iro]ia},'at ion the 

 flowers in the lield should be reniove(l 

 when in bud or shortly after they open. 

 If ther<' is ;i sale for them, the indi- 

 vidual tlower stems four U-o six inehes 

 lout; may be s.afely taken off, in which 

 case the Idooms can be ntili/.eil for for- 

 mal pi(H'es; but no leaf;ij,fe should be re- 

 moved from the plants. If there is no 

 object in lettiiifj the tlowers o]ien they 

 can Just as well, and more easily, be 

 snapped off in late bud. 



It must be frankly admitteil that the 

 best time to <lig the bulbs of the Kasfer 

 lily is not known. It is well known, 

 however, that the )i(>riod over which 

 they may be duj; and jjooil results (di- 

 tained is lonj^er th.an with most bulb- 

 ous plants. 



When to Dig the Biilbs. 



With bu)l)ous stocks };;enerally the 

 tops are allowed lo die down before the 

 plants are duji^, Imt unless :i severe 

 drought occurs few of these lilies will 

 die before frost cuts them down in the 

 fall. In a fi«'l<l jilantinti nearly all the 

 stems are in veijet.at ive vi<,'or when c(dd 

 weather starts, thou<,'h a few scattering 

 stems may show signs of maturing. 



Probably tlie best guide to the time 

 of digging is the formation of the new- 



crown for the next year's growth, but to 

 the uninitiiited this may lie difticult to 

 interjiret projierly. .\t times the abun- 

 dant formation of new roots, whiidi aji- 

 jie.ar in early September, has been the 

 guide, and digging has been done when 

 this occurred. This is probably to be 

 !o(dved upon as a reaction to more favor- 

 .aide tem]teratures for growth rather 

 than an indication of maturity, but, 

 nevertheless, stocks dug in early Se]i- 

 tember, as the summer tein]>eratures 

 abate, have behaved ]>erfectiy under 

 forcing and fielil conditions the next 

 season. When dug at this season, 

 though, the bulbs must bo looked upon 

 as not fully mature and as coinjiarable 

 to much of the imported stock from 

 .laji;!!!, which .also is dug while in full 

 vegetative vigor. 



Digging has been doiK^ from Septem- 

 ber 10 to October ."ii'. The ])erformance 

 of the bulbs dug during this ])eriod is 

 about the s.ame, so far as has been ob- 

 served, but no careful comparative tests 

 have been m.ade. 



Vi'hen the bulbs are dug late there is 

 commonly a sm.all jiercent.age of the 

 stocks in which growth has starti'd from 

 the next season's crown. This growth 

 is more likidy to take ])lace in the 

 I'ropagation than in the old bulbs. 

 There is little doubt that there is in 

 this <diar;icteristic a basis for selection, 

 to whi(di attention is now being given. 



To sum iiji this matter, it Ciin be .said 

 that the bulbs can be dug from Septem- 

 ber III to October I.') or 20 jind that the 

 late iligging jirobably gives the best- 

 m.aturid liulbs, although those dug 

 eailier a]iii;irent Iv clevelop satisfactor 



Many Methods of Propagation. 



.\ny ]dant to l>ocome widely useful 

 must be able to make rapid increase. 

 Lilies in general have been considered 

 th(> aristocrats of the Hower kingdom 

 because of their beauty and the difli- 

 culties in producing them, but the Eas- 

 ter lily c;in be grown from seed so as 

 to bloom in less than a year and can 

 be produced vegetatively in one season. 



There are many methods of increasing 

 the stock. 



Propagation by seed was discussed in 

 the prt'vious section of this article, an(l 

 the method of handling was fully de- 

 scribed. Seed j)ro])agat ion gives clean 

 stock and is .a (|uick way of getting 

 blooniijig jjlants. Jt is also exceedingly 

 desirable tor various other reasons. It 

 furnishes a quick and easy way to iuiild 

 uy) stocks from a few plants. It enables 

 the small grower or the Horist to pro 

 (luce his own forcing stocks and to get 

 idooms continuously from seven months 

 .after iilanting the seed up to an<i includ 

 ing the second lOaster following tin- 

 seeding. The method of j)ro])agat ion by 

 seed is also economical of time and ef- 

 fort, since the stocks may be carried 

 outdoors for six months on <a space prac- 

 tically equal to the size of the green- 

 house re(|uired to force them. p]ven in 

 cobl regions where the jilants will not 

 stand the winter (diinate, florists can 

 still ])roduce their own flowering plants, 

 for by this method of propagation the 

 stocks are flowere<l in the greenhouse 

 during the winter, having made their 

 development outdoors during the sum 

 mer. 



From Biilblets and Scales. 



In the natural course of growing the 

 Jilants, besides the bull) or bulblet plant- 

 ed, there is a projiagaf ion along the stem 

 of from one to thirty bulblets which 

 form in the axils of the leaf .scales un- 

 der the ground. This is the most com- 

 mon method of propagation and is am- 

 ple for continuing the stock and in 

 creasing it from year to year. These 

 bulblets are taken off the stems at dig- 

 ging time and pl.anted to continue the 

 ]iroi)agation. Commercial bulbs can be 

 produc(Ml from the best of these in one 

 year. They will not be so largf as some 

 commercial stocks now imported, but 

 they will produce better. 



The bulbs may be broken up into their 

 individual scales, which can be planted 

 in the open grouiul two inches dee]) or 

 in fl.ats in the greenhouse. Tiulblets 

 form on the cut end of the scale, as in 

 most lilies. The scales may also be in- 

 cubated in a moist atmosphere in sum 

 mer; the growth of the bulblets then 

 becomes much accelerated. They m.iy 

 bo handled almost exactly like hya- 

 cinths in jiropagation, except that if 

 they are not covered they require an 

 atniosj)liere somewhat more moist. 



Cuttings, Layers and Divisions. 



Cuttings of the side shoots and vari- 

 ous jiortions of stems with three or 

 more leaf scales, stuck in moist sand, 

 will live and form bulblets in a sur- 

 ]irisingly short time. Such cuttings, so 

 far as is known, do not root, but Imlb- 

 lets form in the axils of their leaves 

 and these soon strike root. Such growth 

 can lie m.ade in three mouths or less. 



Old stems whi(di h.ave bloomed may be 

 l.ayi're<l in moist sand or simply laid on 

 the surface oi' tli(> ground in a moist 

 atmosphere. When this is done, bulb 

 lets form readilv along the biwer ]iart 

 of the stem. 



A natural propagation takes jilace in 

 the Easter lily, as in nearly .all other 

 lilies, by the division of the bulb into 

 two or more after it reaches maturity. 

 .Vfter such a di\ision it is necess.ary to 

 jd.ant the units out one year to round 

 uj), or they cm be forced .as double- 

 nosed bulbs. 



The most useful methods of propa- 

 gating the Easter lilj* are by seed and 



rCiintiniipil on |i;il'c T.''. ) 



