io8 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF GARDENING. 



The bed should be of good loam, with which should be 

 mixed about a third part of leal-mould, and sufficient 

 coarse silver sand or road grit to keep the soil open. A 

 liberal dressing of well-rotted manure should also be 

 incorporated in the compost. The bed should be planted 

 in September or October, the crowns being set singly 

 2rrin. apart each way, their points being just below the 

 surface. In February or March it is well to give a mulch 

 of decayed manure, and when they start into growth 

 occasional waterings with liquid manure will be found to 

 add greatly to their vigour. Treated in this manner the 

 plants will produce large spikes of bloom in profusion. 

 Every four years the beds should be dug U p, re-made, 

 and re-planted. By having one bed in the full sunshine, 

 another in partial shade, and a third in a still more 

 shaded position, a long succession ol bloom will be 

 obtained ; but 

 care must be 

 taken that in no 

 case are the beds 

 invaded by the 

 roots of alien 

 subjects. 



Lilies of the 

 V a 1 1 e y a r e 

 grown in enor- 

 mous quantities 

 for forcing, the 

 best variety for 

 earl y w o r k 

 being the Berlin- 

 grown crowns, 

 t h o u g h t h e 

 D u t c h a n d 

 Belgian crowns 

 are equally valu- 

 able for later 

 batches. These 

 crowns require 

 three yea is' 

 growth before 

 they become fit 

 for forcing, and 

 those intended 

 for early (lower- 

 ing should be 

 grow n in a w arm 

 position and 

 p o r o u s s o i 1 , 

 when they will 

 complete their 

 growth early, 

 a n d h a v e a 

 lengthy period 

 of rest before 

 being placed in 

 heat, well 

 ripened crowns 

 being a neces 

 sity for success- 

 ful forcing. Tha 

 crowns lor early 

 forcing sin mid be 



planted in pots or boxes as soon as they can be procured, 

 the commencement or September being none too early. A 

 5in. pot will accommodate twelve crowns, while in boxes 

 they may be planted an inch apart. When the planting is 

 completed, the pots or boxes should be placed in a cold 

 frame or behind a wall, and covered with cocoa-nut fibre. 

 A low temperature at this period is beneficial, and 

 appears to brace them up for the subsequent forcing. 

 This may commence about the end of October or the begin- 

 ning of November, a common hot-bed, that will maintain 

 a bottom heat of Sodeg. , answering equally as well as a 

 propagating frame. The hot-bed creates a genial atmo- 

 sphere in the frame that is placed upon it, while bottom 

 heat from a heated water-tank cannot be improved upon, 

 as by this method the necessary moisture in the atmo- 



GROUPJNO OF LILIUM TBSTACEUM. 



sphere is more easily maintained than when pipes are not 

 surrounded with water. The tops of the crowns should 

 stand about Jin. out of the soil, and, as soon as they are 

 placed in heat, should be covered with 2in. or 3m. of 

 moss, being plunged in bottom heat either in moss or 

 cocoa-nut fibre. The bottom heat should never fall below 

 8odeg. , and may be graduallv increased to 95deg. The 

 frame should be covered with boards or mats, so as to 

 exclude the light ; and water, when given, should be of 

 the same temperature as the bottom heat. When the 

 growth is about 2m, high, the covering layer of moss 

 may be removed, and the plants gradually inured to the 

 light. As soon as the lowest dowers commence to 

 expand, the pots or boxes should be removed to a lower 

 temperature, and overhead watering discontinued. By 

 this method of culture flowers may be obtained in 



November and 

 December. 

 Some growers 

 do not pot or 

 box the crowns 

 until they are 

 ready to start 

 forcing, but 

 early planting, 

 as already re- 

 commended, is 

 preferable to this 

 system. Later 

 on, at the end 

 of January, in 

 February and 

 March, the 

 Lilies start much 

 more readily and 

 give but little 

 trouble, 

 warmth, mois- 

 ture, and com- 

 parative shade 

 being the only 

 requisite condi- 

 tio n s . Now 

 that retarded 

 crowns of Lily 

 of the Valley 

 can be obtained 

 through the 

 summer months, 

 there is no rea- 

 s >n w hy this 

 charming flower 

 should not be 

 seen in bloom 

 throughout the 

 entire y ear. 

 Besides the Ber- 

 lin, Dutch, and 

 [Belgian varieties 

 already m e n - 

 tioned, there are 

 other named 

 kinds, 



a m o n g 



the best ol which are Victoria and the newly- 

 introduced Fortin's Lily of the Valley, the latter having 

 been raised in the neighbourhood of Paris, and bearing 

 far larger bells than any other known variety. 

 LinariaS {Toadflaxes). — The perennial kinds of Toadflax 

 are flowers treasured for their freedom and charm. To 

 this family belongs the pretty wild Toadflax L. vulgaris, 

 familiar in many hedgerows, its bright yellow flowers a 

 sea of soft colouring, and a form of this known as Peloria 

 is welcome for the rock garden. This has curiously 

 inverted spurred flowers, yellow and orange at the apex, 

 a bright, showy plant in warm light soils. Then one 

 may also plant with good effect L. macedonica and L. 

 dalmatica, both having yellow flowers, and wonderfully 

 free and graceful. Of other perennial Linarias, 



