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THE EASTER LILY IN NORTHERN CLIMATES. 19 
A summer mulch is considered as important in the culture of this 
lily as a winter one. Most lilies grow where there is a soil cover 
of some kind—many of them where this cover is a grassy one and 
others where the ground is just as effectively protected by brush, 
under and between which the lilies grow, sticking their heads above 
the canopy to flower. 
Lilium longiflorum, with the forms of which we are dealing, pro- 
duces a mass of roots from the stem above the bulb and near the sur- 
face of the ground. For the best results these roots, as well as those 
from the bulb, must have good conditions for development and must 
not be disturbed. This condition is admirably produced by a manure 
mulch, which not only furnishes plenty of fertility but prevents the 
soil from drying out and baking and also equalizes its temperature 
to a remarkable degree. One should keep in mind that this lly, like 
most other lilies, likes to have its feet moist and cool and protected 
both summer and winter, but its head must be in full hght. 
FLOWERING TIME FOR SEEDLINGS AND MATURE STOCKS. 
Attention has been called in a general way to the irregular blos- 
soming of a seedling generation. The experimental stocks in 1920, 
sown on November 1, 1919, began to flower in early July, at the 
same time as the out-of-door vegetatively propagated plants. The 
last of the progeny did not open its flowers before the end of May, 
1921. All of these seedlings were kept under precisely the same con- 
ditions from the time of sowing the seed, and all operations, such 
as pricking off, potting, etc., were performed in as short a time as 
ordinarily would be possible. In spite of this identical handhng, 
there was an extreme variation of 11 months in the time of flowering. 
In all progenies which have been grown in the last six years the 
behavior has been similar. When, however, these same bulbs have 
been handled normally for vegetative stocks, 1. e., planted in No- 
vember, they have all flowered within a short space of time. (ig. 9.) 
Two or three weeks cover the entire blossoming period, which is 
as close as would be the case with imported varieties grown out of 
doors in the same way. 
THE CUT FLOWERS. 
As in bulb culture, there is always a temptation to utilize the 
crop of flowers when there is sale for them. It has been found that 
it is practicable to cut off half of the stem in the first flowering of 
the seedlings in the greenhouse and still preserve the bulbs for start- 
ing vegetative propagation by planting out in the spring. The pots, 
after the cutting, are dried off rather quickly and the bulbs left in 
the soil until ready to plant out. There are no data on the compara- 
tive value of stocks thus flowered and those which have had their 
