I XP 
ie 
CULTURE OF FAVORITE PLANTS. 
in a fresh, rich compost. The larger bulbs often produce as many as two hundred flowers. 
The withered flowers should be clipped off, unless seed is desired; of those left for seed 
the stem will curl until the seed vessel is drawn down into the soil, where they ripen. 
Propagation otherwise than by seed is ordinarily impracticable with this bulb, as its solid 
nature almost precludes its division, and only the skilled practitioner can hope for success. 
When grown from seed it takes three years to bloom, unless specially petted and fostered 
by some skillful hand, and therefore most amateurs prefer to purchase blooming bulbs. 
Their chief enemies are mice and excessive moisture. 
Gy DATS Y. 
1, AISY, from the Saxon, denoting day’s eye, because of its habit of 
opening early in the morning, is a great favorite, as indeed it has 
been for ages. Whether growing by the roadside, a neglected 
beauty, or petted and cared for by some flower-loving cottager, its 
praises have long been sung by the greatest among European poets. 
In this country the Bellis perennis, or common double European Daisy, 
is extensively cultivated as a choice exotic; while the whole-leaved species, or B. 
€ integrifolia, is indigenous from Kentucky southward to the Gulf of Mexico. A 
heavy clay soil seems to be the natural choice of these simple beauties, but they 
will grow in almost any soil if supplied freely with water. In shaded nooks they 
will retain their flowers a long time, but the direct rays of the sun cause them to 
prematurely drop both flowers and leaves. The flower of the Daisy in the natural state 
is single, and borne on the top of a long, slender flower-stalk; but by cultivation it 
has become double, and has even sported into several curious and beautiful multiplex 
varieties. They have, however, seen their greatest popularity in this country. They can 
be cultivated in and out of doors, but as house plants must have all the light possible in 
the winter months. They are easily propagated by divisions of the plant, early in Sep- 
tember in northern latitudes, the parts thus separated being set two or three inches apart 
in a sandy loam, with an eastern aspect. They should be protected from a too heavy 
drenching by rain or otherwise, and for this purpose a gentle, eastward slope is the best 
site. On the approach of regular frosty weather, they should be covered with a layer 
of leaves to about six inches in depth, protected by branches of trees from being blown 
away. When the weather is mild, this covering should be raked off for half a day, and 
restored before the approach of the night chill, a few times through the winter. Many 
are kept in garden frames, with only one inch of leaves. 
As has been intimated, there are several varieties in cultivation, a favorite one being 
known as the Hen and Chickens (scientifically B. prolifera), because of a number of 
miniature flowers growing around and under the protection of the larger flower. Upon 
the whole, in the hot, dry climate of this country, the Daisy, in the estimation of some 
intelligent amateurs, is very unsatisfactory for outdoor cultivation. 
359 
<< 
wAZ—dD 
