THE CULTIVATION OF HARDY BULBS AND PLANTS. 213 



Primulas want cool and shady places, whilst many Himalayan 

 species want fullest sun and abundance of water. Hellebores want 

 full light in winter and shade in summer. 



As to soil, a sandy loam best suits perennials as well as 

 bulbs ; however, some perennials and certain bulbs cannot be 

 grown in sand for any length of time, and others, especially so- 

 called rock-plants, want their soil entirely free from manurial 

 matter. 



Most gardeners are working under the false impression that 

 manure is always beneficial ; we observe that vegetables, fruit 

 trees, some weedy herbaceous plants, and some plants in pots 

 are apparently improving by application of liquid or solid manure, 

 and such observation is the cause of the belief that all plants 

 ought to like manure. I do not know whether plants can be 

 grown well in sand without the addition of leaf mould or de- 

 composed manure, but loamy or heavier soils do not want it for 

 many years ; if they are often and deeply worked, and now and then 

 some sand or mineral matter added, just to keep the soil porous 

 and open, herbaceous plants and bulbs can be grown on the very 

 same spot for a very long time. The majority of bulbs will grow 

 in light or heavy soils equally well ; Crocus and Tulips, 

 Erythronium and Muscari may even do better in sand, but 

 Colchicum and Lilium refuse to do so. The great -grandmother 

 of Hyacinthus orientalis grows in Asia Minor in hard ferrugineous 

 clay, and its descendants have adapted themselves to grow 

 in the highly manured sands of Haarlem. I grow all my im- 

 ported bulbs in soil entirely devoid of manure, and most of my 

 herbaceous borders have not seen any for at least ten years. I 

 have no experience whether the use of compost leaf-mould or 

 manure can be dispensed with in pure sandy soil, but the 

 constant addition of such stimulants causes the bulbs to become 

 liable to disease, and especially so if they come into immediate 

 contact with the manure. The vigour of the splendid specimens 

 of Conifers in the public garden at Meran (Tyrol) is due to 

 repeated heavy dressings with night soil, whilst I have seen a 

 plantation of Lilium candidum ruined within a few days by the 

 application of liquid manure. Lilies and Fritillarias, when 

 found wild, always grow in places where the ground is covered 

 by other herbs or grass, keeping the ground cool, and where 

 they enjoy besides the protection of trees, keeping off sun and 



