12 



THE FLORAL JVORLD 



CHINESE SACRED LILIES 



Even in December it is not too late 

 to plant these charming bulbs. Get 

 your bulbs from some reliable florist 

 that can be depended upon to send 

 sound heavy bulbs. It pays to get the 

 l3est, in all kinds of bulbs. I put three 

 or four in a large, deep glass dish. I 

 first remove the brown skin from the 

 bulbs. Then make, with a penknife, 

 three or four incisions half an inch 

 deep from the top to near the base of 

 each bulb. Be careful not to cut off 

 any sprouts that may have started. 

 Also be sure that your hands are free 

 from grease while handling the bulbs. 

 I put about a teacupful of sand in the 

 bottom of the dish, then about an inch 

 of gravel; set the bulbs in the middle, 

 and press them in firmly. Now fill the 

 dish half full of pebbles mixed with a 

 small amount of charcoal. Then pour 

 in water until it reacnes half way to 

 the top of the bulbs. I change the wa- 

 ter once a week by pouring in water 

 from which the chill has been taken 

 until it runs over enough to have com- 

 pletely changed. Now set dish in a 

 cool, light place away from the sun. 

 In a week or more bring them into a 

 sunny room. By the time they have 

 been planted from three to four weeks 

 they will be a mass of fragrant blooms. 

 A dish of these lilies in bloom makes 

 a lovely Christmas or New Year's gift 

 that will be a delight to each member 

 of the household fortunate enough to 

 receive it. 



Iowa. Mrs. C. L. Whitaker. 



DAHLIAS FROM SEED 



It is not generally known among 

 those who grow flowers from seed, that 

 the very finest dahlias may be grown in 

 one season from seed to the perfection 

 of fiowers. Nevertheless, I have done 

 it for three seasons, and each time 

 bought seed from a different seedsman. 

 Last March I took a soap box, sawed it 

 through half way down, making two 

 boxes each about four inches deep, 



then I filled them with garden soil, and 

 planted two packets of dahlia seed, one 

 of double mixed "pompone" and one 

 of double mixed show dahlias. I wa- 

 tered with warm water, set boxes on a 

 table and put them in the front room, 

 where there seldom was any fire. 

 When it was very cold I set a lighted 

 lamp on the fioor under the center of 

 the table, which warmed the soil from 

 the bottom up. This is the best plan 

 to keep house plants from freezing. 

 In about ten days the plants came up, 

 and they grew stalky and strong. In 

 April, when the buds started, I set the 

 boxes outdoors and covered them 

 frosty nights, and in June I set out the 

 plants, then bushes six to ten inches 

 high, in beds, prepared by digging ma- 

 nure into them. In late August they 

 were bushes two to four feet tall, and 

 began to bloom. There were many 

 blossoms three and four inches across, 

 and double to the center. By the last 

 of September about every plant was in 

 blossom, and there were some a pure 

 frosty white, some pink, yellow, choco- 

 late brown, crimson, scarlet and laven- 

 der, and many shaded and variegated 

 ones. A few were single, and for bou- 

 quet purposes they excel the double 

 ones. The last of October I dug the 

 bulbs and there were just about four 

 and one-half bushels or them by meas- 

 ure, all large healthy tubors, one or 

 two inches in diameter. 

 Michigan. Mrs. Jennie E. Life. 



FALL PLANTING AND CARE OF ROSES 



For the South, fall is the best time 

 for planting or rooting roses. The 

 plants ordered from the florist are less 

 affected in trasmission then, and in 

 better condition every way. Roses 

 may be planted or rooted any time 

 when the ground is not frozen, or too 

 wet to dig. The first secret of success 

 is good drainage. Drain with any- 

 thing handy, except wood, that makes 

 "wood lice," which will destroy your 



