THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 
325 
which had better be left to professional hands, and except the 
amateur be proficient in such work, he will not be very successful. 
If properly managed, they will soon increase by natural means to 
more than can be accommodated. 
I may just state, by way of conclusion, that, in my opinion, these 
fine lilies have one fault : they produce their flowers too far from the 
surface of the soil. I have tried to remedy this by placing three 
smaller bulbs in a pot with the principal one at the first potting, and 
I think this improves their appearance wheu in flower. With this 
exception, they are splendid productions, and deserve the most 
extensive cultivation ; grown in masses in large pots, or in con- 
servatory borders, they are surpassingly grand, and they are quite 
within the means of the amateur. Do not be satisfied with your 
treatment unless your full-grown bulbs produce from twenty-five to 
thirty flowers upon a single stem. 
GOMPHOLOBIUMS. 
HESE beautiful plants are generally looked upon by 
beginners as being very difficult to cultivate success- 
fully, and therefore they are comparatively rare in col- 
lections. If the following mode of treatment is pur- 
sued, however, there need be little fear of failure. In 
selecting youug plants from the nursery, choose those that are 
strong and healthy, and in proper condition as to pot room. If 
received at the present season, they should be wintered in the 
warmest part of the greenhouse, keeping them as near the glass as 
convenient, and let them be carefully supplied with water at the 
root. When the object is to obtain the largest possible amount of 
growth in the course of one season, they may with propriety be 
placed in a moist growing temperature of from 45 ° to 50 3 at night, 
allowing it to rise 1CF by day with air and sunshine, early in March, 
or as early after that season as circumstances may permit. Any 
straggling shoot should be cut back, so as to secure a compact, close 
habit of growth, and the supply of water will probably need to be 
increased after placing the plant in a warmer situation, but give no 
more than may be absolutely required to keep the soil in a healthy 
state ; and if the syringe is used morning and evening during bright 
weather, and a moist atmosphere maintained, very little water at the 
root will suffice. Healthy young plants will soon start into active 
growth when placed iu a moist growing temperature, and when this 
is observed to be the case, examine the state of the roots, and give 
a modente shift if the roots are abundant and active, but never 
shift a plant unless the ball is well filled with healthy, active roots. 
Be careful to have the soil to be used in repotting in a nice moist, 
healthy state, and in proper condition as regards age, taking care 
that the ball is also neither too wet nor too dry ; keep rather close 
and moist, and sprinkle the plants over-head morning and evening, 
and apply water to the soil with the greatest care for a time after 
November. 
