JUNE 145 



weevils, I know not which, probably both, or with the 

 deadly fungus Rhizopus necans, to destroy which the 

 bulbs should be dipped in a one-per-cent. solution of 

 salicylic acid and dusted with sulphur before plant- 

 ing. Some charcoal or wood ashes should be laid over 

 the drainage of the pot. Bulbs thus treated in autumn 

 will probably send up shoots more or less vigorous in 

 the following April. If it is then found that the pot is 

 full of fresh basal roots, the lily may be carefully planted 

 out where it is intended it shall be permanent. But 

 the safer course is to keep it in the pot till another 

 season, nipping off the flower-buds and so diverting the 

 whole stream of nutriment to the bulb. Ars longa, 

 vita brevis : the sacrifice of a year's blossom may seem 

 cruel, but it will not be made in vain. 



Now I am not going to launch into a disquisition on 

 the different requirements of various kinds of lily (and 

 they do differ greatly in their needs). Were I to do 

 so, in this first place, I should simply be cribbing the 

 precepts of my friend, Mr. A. Grove, who first redeemed 

 me from the deep despondency into which season after 

 season of failure had plunged me, and who has placed 

 the fruits of his unrivalled experience in this kittle 

 genus at the disposal of amateurs in a pretty volume, 

 whereof the purchase and perusal should precede 

 any enterprise in lily culture. ^ Save a few scraps 

 of independent observation gathered since Mr. Grove 

 started me on the right path, all that I know about 

 lilies I owe to him, and it is to his book that I refer 

 my readers. All that I shall do here is to say which 



• Lilies, by A. Grovo. (Present Day Gardening Series, Is. 6d.) 



E 



