813 
the gardening world. 
August 19, 1899. 
LILIUMS AMD THEIR CULTURE. 
(Concluded from page 794.) 
Now for a few words about Lilium candidum or the 
Cottagers' Lily, than which none is more beautiful, 
but is found in the majority of old cottage gardens. 
Yes, and far more at home, as a rule, than in the 
best cared-for gardens. This one does not do so 
well with me as I could wish, and yet it thrives and 
flowers abundantly in a cottage garden only a mile 
away. It resents being often disturbed and appears 
to do best when left to take care of itself as it were. 
1 think one fatal mistake with this Lily is to plant it 
too deeply. The finest and best flowered group that 
has come under my notice was planted immediately 
around and under a half standard Pear tree, and 
quite one half of each bulb was above ground, and 
so thickly packed together, reminding one of an 
Onion bed in the month of August. The flowers are 
of the purest whiteness, very sweet scented, and 
highly valued on account of its early flowering, which 
is usually towards the end of May or early in June. 
Some of the spikes in the group just mentioned had 
as many as twerty-four flowers, this alone telling 
they enjoyed the position allocated to them. I con¬ 
sider the best time to re-plant this Lily is towards 
the end of July or early in August, as it soon begins 
to push up its growth again after flowering, and it 
should be well mulched with manure, and kept moist 
if the weather keeps hot and dry. 
This kind is subject to a disease in some gardens, 
and various attempts have been made to eradicate 
the pest, but more often than not have ended in failure. 
A very recent writer in one of the gardening periodi¬ 
cals has given us a remedy which he considers 
effectual. This is to raise the whole lot that has 
shown the least signs of distress, when at rest, pull¬ 
ing off all decayed scales, and well dusting the bulb 
with flowers of sulphur, working the same well in 
between the scales, and replanting without much 
delay, and, of course, in a new position. I hope this 
simple and easy remedy will prove a success. 
A good top-dressing of cow manure when they be¬ 
gin growth after flowering is beneficial to this spe¬ 
cies, even if it has not been re-planted. All the tall 
growing Liliums will require staking ; and great care 
should bs exercised when pushing the stakes down 
to keep clear of all bulbs The old flowering spikes 
should not be cut down to the base until such are 
thoroughly ripened; for while they remain green 
they are assisting the bulb to develop for another 
year's supply of flowers. 
Some of the Liliums, especially the dwarfer kinds, 
do well on the margins of shrubberies, and show up 
well in such positions ; but the roots of the shrubs 
must not be allowed to smother the bulbs, so should 
be cut around each year at the roots. A good many 
cultivators of this gorgeous family adopt the wise 
precaution and sink tubs or barrels in the ground, 
planting the bulbs in these. This plan may well be 
more followed than it is, especially where large 
shrubs or trees are in proximity and likely to im¬ 
poverish the ground. 
There are a few varieties that thrive near the 
margins of water. L. canadense, for instance, does 
well in this position, reaching from 8 ft. to 10 ft. 
high, and bearing thirty or more pendulous pale 
yellow flowers. L. Parryi is another growing about 
3 ft. high, with golden-yellow flowers, spotted with 
chocolate, and very fragrant L. superbum, or the 
Swamp Lily, from North America, grows 6 ft. to 8 ft. 
in height, with spotted orange-red flowers. There 
are several others which prefer a moist, peaty, or 
decomposed leaf soil; but enough has been said to 
show that these lovely bulbous plants grow and 
flower in almost any position, while not being over 
fastidious as to soil. The majority of them being 
inexpensive, I may say, places them within reach of 
all those who can boast of a garden, be it ever so 
small; while their varying height, from 18 in. to 
10 ft., and combination of colours should not fail to 
please the most exacting. 
Liliums are not much troubled with insects (and 
what a boon to us gardeners), greenfly being the only 
one that I am acquainted with ; but rabbits appear 
to be particularly fond of the young shoots. One 
year they quite spoilt several clumps we have about 
the grounds before I was alive to the fact that Lilies 
were acceptable to them. They have even reached up 
and bit the flower buds off when wire netting was 
around them 18 in. in depth. After this another 6 in. 
were added with good effect. 
Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis). 
I thought a few remarks anent the forcing and out¬ 
door cultivation of this universal favourite would 
not be out of place in my treatise to-night, though, 
strictly speaking, it is not classed with Liliums. An 
immense quantity is annually imported from 
Germany, and is known as the Berlin variety ; but I 
firmly believe quite as good crowns can be grown at 
home. Good culture must be resorted to, choosing 
a good plot of ground facing east or west, giving it a 
heavy dressing of well-rotted manure, double digging 
or bastard trenching it in the autumn. The crowns 
should be lifted and parted, sorting them in their 
various sizes; and when planting a shallow trench 
should be got out with the spade, placing the crowns 
in an upright position, from 2 in. to 3 in. apart, 
merely covering the same. The rows should be 6 in. 
or 8 in. asunder, so that the flat hoe can be plied 
between them during the growing season. Well 
water the same if the summer should prove a very’ 
dry one. The crowns should have two seasons 
growth at the least before any attempt is made to 
force them. In the autumn when the foliage has 
died down it should be cleared off, and a thorough 
good top-dressing put od, which has been put 
through an inch sieve. I find nothing to beat night 
soil for this, when it has been properly prepared, 
putting six times its quantity of loam, or rather 
more if ordinary garden soil is used, thoroughly 
mixing and turning it back several times, sifting the 
same when fairly dry, and putting it on the bed 
about 1 in. thick. Beds over a year old are greatly 
benefited with a deluge of manure water occasionally 
during the summer. 
A new plantation should be made annually if large 
quantities are to be forced each winter. By retard¬ 
ing the crowns I believe Lily of the Valley can be 
had in flower throughout the year, but having had no 
experience in this I will pass it over and content my¬ 
self with saying it can be had in flower by Christmas, 
and with a good stock of crowns to pull from the sup¬ 
ply can be kept up until April or early in May, when 
it flowers out-of-doors, Now, as to the best method 
to force these into flower, pots or boxes are suitable, 
placing the crowns thickly together and working a 
light soil well in among the roots, not pressing it 
much, and I like to stand the pots out-doors after 
this plunging them in some light material for a short 
time. If a few frosts occur so much the better, as I 
find they come away more quickly after this check 
than if taken up and placed in heat at once. 
The pots or boxes should be plunged in leaves or 
tan where a bottom heat of about 80° can be main¬ 
tained, keeping your forcing house from 6o° to 70° 
during the night, with the usual advance by day, 
covering the crowns with moss or sphagnum and 
keeping the same continually moist with water that 
stands from 80 5 to 90°. The crowns certainly start 
better when they are kept dark. At this early date 
they will take five or six weeks to come into flower. 
When about half the spikes are opened the pots or 
boxes should be lifted out of the plunging material, 
and in a day or two taken to an intermediate house 
before they are gathered or used for decorating. Of 
course, later on in the spring the crowns start away 
much better and less heat is required, merely placing 
the boxes on the hot water pipes in a vinery that is at 
work answering well. I do not consider the crowns 
are of much service after being forced, so advocate 
their being thrown away. I have heard a good bit of 
controversy about whether there are not more than 
one variety of Lily of the Valley. I feel quite sure 
there is and consider the inferior kind must have 
crept into our gardens from the woods for no good 
culture seems to improve it. The largest flowered 
kind usually carries about a dozen flowers on a 
spike. 
For outdoor culture and gatherings various 
positions should be chosen so as to prolong the 
season. The plant appears to enjoy partial shade, 
and a good plot on a north border is very valuable. 
These should not be allowed to remain too many 
years; for when the crowns get thickly together 
they soon present a weakly appearance, even 
when an annual top-dressing has been given. Part¬ 
ing up every five or six years and replanting should 
be the motto of all who wish to procure the finest 
bells. 
There are many others that are termed Lilies, 
such as the Belladonna Lily (Amaryllis Belladonna), 
Scarborough Lily (Vallota purpurea), the African 
Lily (Richardia africana), often called the Lily of 
the Nile; and the Agapaothus is usually called the 
African Lily ; Guernsey Lily (Nerine), Peruvian 
Lily (Alstroemeria), Hemerocallis (Day Lily), and 
several others, whose merits I should be pleased to 
chronicle later on, if acceptable to our society ; but 
time will not allow me to enter upon this now, so I 
will bring my remarks to a close with an earnest 
wish that one and all will endeavour to extend the 
culture of these most lovely flowers. I am pleased 
to note that their merits are becoming better known 
to those who love their gardens, and I hope their 
requirements better understood than was the case a 
few years ago, when it was considered most detri¬ 
mental by some of our best growers to add much in 
the way of manure. To-day, we find the majority 
of Liliums revel in it, providing the drainage is 
correct .—James Mayne, Bicton, Devon. 
-4.- 
NOTICES OF BOOKS. 
Anne Pratt’s Flowering Plants, Grasses, 
Sedges, and Ferns of Great Britain, with 
their Allies, the Clubmosses, Pepperworts, and 
Horsetails. Edited and Revised by Edward 
Step, F.L.S., with 315 Coloured Plates. 
Frederick Warne & Co., 15, Bedford Street, 
Strand, London. Vol. I., Parts 4 and 5, is. each. 
This book on the wild plants of Great Britain is 
intended for the plant lover, who is not a botanist, 
or in other Words for the general public interested in 
our wild plants. It is somewhat ambitious in its 
way, inasmuch as it gives descriptions of all the 
British plants, and some that are now extinct if, 
indeed, they were ever entitled to be considered 
British. Although there are only 315 coloured 
plates, yet each contains representations of as many 
as three to nine plants, so that if we take an average 
of six that would give 1,890 species. Perhaps, this 
is an over estimated number; but No. 4 contains 8 
plates, representing forty species. The plan is to 
give one or more groups of British species, each 
group confined to a genus, except where the genus 
consists of only one species, in which case at least 
two genera are figured on a page. The colours are 
faithful to Nature, as a rule, but in some cases are 
brighter than the real flowers would warrant. That 
is a statement, however, which applies to almost all 
coloured illustrations, even in the case of publica¬ 
tions of botanical repute. Many colours are diffi¬ 
cult to reproduce, so that the artist, as well as the 
botanist, has yet something to learn. On the con- 
tray, forty coloured illustrations of British plants 
for is. makes a cheap book, and certainly worth the 
money. 
The Droseras or Sundews are really well executed, 
and not a bit more highly coloured than the plants 
on our commons are at the present time, though their 
high colour may be due in part to the drought and 
the drying up of the usually marshy places. The 
Pinks make another nice group displayed in one 
view; but curiously enough the Cheddar Pink 
(Dianthus caesius) has flowers nearly as large as the 
Carnation or Clove Pink (D. Caryophyllue), though 
they differ greatly in height and other respects. The 
Catchflies (Silene and Lychnis) make two other 
interesting pictures showing their distinguishing 
features at a glance. 
Of each species a short description is given, the 
author avoiding technicalities as much as possible. 
This is followed by some general information about 
the plant, its habitats in a wild state, its economic 
uses (if any), the time of flowering, and various old 
superstitions respecting the same, together with what 
may be termed folk lore. All these are matters 
which serve to render the study of British plants in¬ 
teresting to the general public, whose taste or fancy 
is different from that of the botanist, and must be 
captivated in a different way. 
Numerous quotations from the poets accompany 
those species to which the text of the verses apply, 
and will appeal, we presume, to another class of 
readers. The book is of large octavo size, and 
printing and paper are excellent. 
My Roses and How I Grew Them. By Helen 
Milman (Mrs. Caldwell Crofton), Author of " In 
the Garden of Peace,” &c. John Lane, the 
Bodley Head, London and New Yoik, 1899. 
Price is. 6d., net. 
The author is a most enthusiastic cultivator of 
Roses as may be gleaned from the preface, where she 
says, "I do not want to boast, but you never saw 
such Roses as mine! Or perhaps I ought to be 
