By the Rev. William Williamson. 



149 



Our only consideration therefore is, how to preserve it, so 

 as to make it blossom the oftenest, and at the least' expense. 



In all bulbs, the leaves are the great organ, by which the 

 roots are brought to maturity, and the bloom is the conse- 

 quence of that maturity ;* the leaves, therefore, must pre- 

 cede, not succeed the bloom. In autumnal bulbs, to an in- 

 attentive observer, the very reverse seems the fact ; but we 

 ought to consider that if the bloom be produced by the 

 agency of the leaves, that which appears in one autumn, 

 must be the consequence of the leaves which sprung up 

 after the decay of the bloom in the preceding year. The 

 beginning therefore of their year is when the leaves first 

 spring forth, after the decay of the flower, and their use and 

 end is to perfect the blossom for the succeeding autumn. 



In its native clime, it is highly probable, the vegetation 

 of the Guernsey Lily goes on during the whole of the 

 winter, so that the bloom is sufficiently matured by the fol- 

 lowing autumn, and therefore appears every successive year; 

 but in the comparatively cold winters of England and 

 Guernsey, the vegetation of the plant is not carried on with 

 sufficient rapidity, to effect the perfect maturation of the 

 bloom, but requires several years to complete that, which in 

 its native place of growth is done in one year. ' 



It struck me, that possibly by giving the bulb the advan- 

 tage of the protection of glass during our winter, it might 

 again be brought to blossom at a much earlier period than 

 is commonly imagined. In order to try this experiment, a 



* This points out the impolicy of cutting off the leaves of bulbs after the decay 

 of the blossom, which is generally done in the Crocus tribe, on account of their 

 unsightly appearance. 



