468 
THE GARDENING 
WORLD 
July 18, 1908. 
= Lilies = 
For the Border. 
Lilies may be termed the princes of 
the hardy flower border ; stately in habit, 
and supreme above all other hardy plants 
in the regal beauty of their flowers, they 
are too often left out owing to the idea 
that they are difficult to manage. That 
some of them do require expert knowledge 
to cultivate them successfully cannot be 
gainsaid, but on the other hand, there are 
several that do well in an ordinary bor¬ 
der and under ordinary conditions, pro¬ 
vided they are given a good start. 
This may be done by throwing out a 
hole 2 feet square and filling it up with 
a compost of three parts loam and one 
part leaf soil, with some broken charcoal. 
Plant in the autumn, and those which 
have small bulbs, such as L. Martagon, 
may have seven or eight bulbs to the 
clump and should be put five inches deep. 
The larger bulbs, such as L. candidum, 
should be planted three in a clump and 
seven or eight inches deep. 
Scarlet Turk’s Cap. 
Lilium chalcedonicum, the scarlet 
Turk’s Cap, is an old favourite, coming- 
up regularly every year without fail. In 
a small front garden not far from here 
there are over a dozen clumps of it, and 
all the attention given is the annual fork¬ 
ing of the border. It may, therefore, be 
considered the easiest of plants to man¬ 
age, with the excejition, perhaps, of L. 
croceum, which may be reckoned to give 
a good account of itself under varying 
conditions. Anyone who has been in 
Ulster on the 12th of July has had the 
“ Orange Lily” brought to their notice, 
accompanied by a great deal of drum 
beating, whole garlands of this and 
Alstroemeria being used in this great Pro¬ 
testant festival. 
The Swamp Lily. 
L. superbum does exceedingly well in 
the border, and soon makes a large clump. 
The flowers are orange red, and covered 
with dark brown spots, the flower stems 
generally attaining a height of 5 ft. This 
does not push its growth so early as some, 
which has this year proved fortunate, as 
though they were slightly damaged, it will 
not affect their progress. There are now 
over 40 growths, where five years ago nine 
was the number. 
The Tiger Lily. 
There is no need to describe the com¬ 
mon Tiger Lily (L. tigrinum). It may be 
seen in cottage gardens all over the coun¬ 
try in company with the Madonna Lily 
(L. candidum), the latter plant generally 
presenting such a picture of health as to 
make many professionals green with 
envy. They have often themselves to 
blame, however, for not succeeding with 
it ; they want to divide this, fill up that, 
and give another plant a fresh start, so 
that in the end they have either diseased 
plants or lose them altogether. Take the 
cottager’s tip, say I, and leave them alone, 
and to a great extent this applies to all 
Lilies. 
A Fine Border Lily. 
L. testaoe-um (syn. excelsum) is without 
doubt one of our finest border Lilies ; a 
supposed hybrid between L. candidum 
and L. chalcedonicum, it is as hardy as 
the latter, with the stately grace of the 
former, for while the disastrous frosts of 
the late spring played havoc with such 
plants as Hemerocallis, this came through 
the ordeal unscathed, although the 
growths were a foot. high. The flowers 
are a peculiar shade of yellow, and a sub¬ 
stantial proof of its vigour is that three 
bulbs planted in 1906 have this season 
produced ten strong growths. 
Other equally good Lilies are L. 
Henryi, L. Hansonii, and L. Thunber- 
gianum, with L. Martagon album. Do 
not go too near the clumps when forking, 
and after the plants are established, give 
a top dressing of loam and leaf soil when 
the growths are coming through the soil. 
H. Arnold, 
-- 
A LIZARD Orchid (Orchis hircinus) has 
been found in bloom near Dover. 
R.H.S. 
The next fortnightly meeting of the 
Royal Horticultural Society will be held 
on July 21, from 1 to 6 o’clock, admis 
sion 2s. 6d. At three in the afternoon 
a lecture will be delivered by Mr. W. 
Watkins on “Annuals.” 
- a. w. - 
Prize Competitions. 
GENERAL CONDITIONS.—Competitors mast 
write on one side of the paper only. Regular 
paid contributors to THE GARDENING 
WORLD or other gardening journals are de¬ 
barred from entering, but occasional con¬ 
tributors may compete. The name and ad¬ 
dress of the competitor must appear on each 
article sent for competition. The Editor’s 
decision is final, and he reserves the right 
to reproduce, in any way,' any artiole or photo¬ 
graph sent for competition. The conditions 
applying to each competition should be oare- 
fully read. 
AAA 
T V V “- 
WEEKLY 
PRIZES. 
A PRIZE OFTEN SHILLINGS will be given 
for the best paragraph or short article od any 
gardening subject, such as hints of practical 
interest to gardeners, notes on the propaga¬ 
tion or cultivation of flowers, fruits or vege¬ 
tables, eradication of pests, etc. The para¬ 
graph or article must not exceed a column, but 
value rather than length will be considered in 
making the award. Mark envelopes “ Com¬ 
petition,*’ and post not later than the Monday 
following date of issue. Entries received later 
than Tuesday (first post) will be loft over until 
the following week. 
Two prizes of 2s. 6d. will be awarded each 
week for the two best letters, not exceeding 
150 words, on any interesting gardening sub¬ 
ject. 
RESULTS OF 
LAST WEEK’S 
COMPETITIONS. 
Some of the best papers in this oomp3tition 
aie too long, an i we desire readers t) keep 
within a column. 
The prize in the Readers’ Competition was 
nwarded to “ C. Tu ner ” for the article/on 
“ Canterbury Bells,’ page 454. 
In the Prize Letter Competition a prize 
was awarded to “ L. S. Small,” for the article 
on “ Chou de Burghley or Cabbage Broccoli ” ; 
and another to “ S. E. Gent ” for the article on 
“ Potting Plants,” page 456. 
Aspidistras 
Their Culture 
and Propagation. 
Aspidistras as foliage decorative plants 
stand second to none tor a shaded Window, 
and are excellent for table decoration. 
The culture of these beautiful planes is 
very simple. A good, porous soil and 
perfect drainage are essential for success, 
and they should never be overpotted, as 
being slow growing subjects, they should 
only be repotted when really in need of 
it. A good compost is turfy loam, leaf 
mould, and sand; this^should be pressed 
moderately firm. The surface soil should 
be loosened occasionally and a sprinkling 
of fine mortar rubble and silver sand put 
on to prevent the accumulation of moss; 
also to keep the soil pure and sweet. 
To see the pretty shining leaves at their 
best means cleanliness, and this is done 
by sponging every leaf with a weak solu¬ 
tion of milk and water of the same tem¬ 
perature as the room in which the plant is 
growing. Sponging not only improves 
the texture of the foliage, but helps the 
respiratory organs of the leaf and keeps 
the whole plant in good health. 
Many badly grown and discoloured 
specimens are the result of inattention to 
sponging and surface soil stirring. 
The propagation of Aspidistras is best 
done in the following way: As soon as the 
pot becomes root-bound, take out the 
whole ball of roots, wash all the soil away 
with some clear water, and cut the 
rhizomes in tw r o with a sharp knife; each 
rhizome has a shoot of foliage attached 
to it, and these should be potted separ¬ 
ately. Never pull the ball of soil to 
pieces before washing, or many of the 
finer roots will be destroyed, and this 
takes them longer to become established 
again. 
When potting up the divisions, it is wise 
to have good drainage and soil, pressing 
the latter moderately firm and keeping 
the pots in a cool and shaded place for a 
few days. 
A little soot water given occasionally 
is beneficial, and lends gloss to the leaves. 
Watering should be done with care, for if 
too much is given, stagnant soil and dis¬ 
coloured foliage will be the result. 
Joseph Floyd. 
-- 
The Mole’s Strenuous Life. 
The mole, one of the most destructive 
of garden pests, has, writes a field- 
naturalist, to work harder, in all pro¬ 
bability, for his pittance of earthworms 
than any other animal works for his daily 
bread. He is the prototypal navvy. His 
whole existence is spent in perpetually 
raising and removing large piles of earth 
by sheer force of muscle. In order to 
sustain such constant toil, and to replace 
and repair the used-up tissue, the mole 
requires to be always eating. His appe¬ 
tite is voracious. He works like a horse 
and eats like an elephant. Throughout 
his waking hours he is engaged in push¬ 
ing aside earth and scurrying after worms 
in all his galleries and tunnels. His 
heart and lungs and muscles are work¬ 
ing at such a rate that if he goes without 
food for half a day he starves and dies of 
actual inanition. 
