February 9, 1907. 
THE GARDEN/NO WORLD. 
level, and nui:kc firm throughout, and 
mark out the rows and alleys. The beds 
should be about 6 feet wide, allowing a 
distance of 18 inches between the rows, 
15 inches between the plants, and 18 
inch alleys between the beds. 
PLANTING Out. —The beginning of 
April may be considered an ideal time for 
planting out. Lift each plant carefully, 
taking out sufficient soil to receive the 
roots properly. Plant firmly and water 
in with a fine rose can. Until established 
they are benefited by syringing overhead 
on hot days, and afterwards they should 
never suffer for the want of water. About 
every 10 days a dusting of some reliable 
artificial manure and soot may be freely 
used in showery weather. 
The Onion fly (Phorbia cepetorum) 
causes serious injury to the Onion crop 
in some seasons, and every precaution 
should be taken to prevent it. Spraying 
the plants over earlv in the season with 
offensive compositions is a eapital plan 
to adopt. 
Mildew should also be treated im- 
mediatelv it is first seen; ever}- affected 
leaf must be removed and the bed dusted 
thoroughly with fine slacked lime 01- 
black sulphur. 
Keep the beds free from weeds, hoeing 
frequently throughout the growing sea : 
son; this may be continued until about 
the middle of August, by which time 
growth, in most cases, will be completed. 
Partially lift with a small hand fork the 
most promising bulbs and clean over, as 
this will help to ripen and prevent split¬ 
ting in case of wet weather. 
Select a fine day for lifting the crop, 
and place the finest bulbs in boxes filled 
with hay or wood wool, placing them on 
a south border, bringing them under 
cover at night and turning them daily. 
Remove all loose skins, paring off the 
roots carefully and tieing the tops to 
within as short a distance to the neck as 
possible. Attention to all these details 
is necessary in order to ensure success. 
Stage the Onions on Chrysanthemum 
cups or the patent wire stands which are 
now rapidly superseding all other 
methods. 
W. J. Pritchard. 
-f+4- 
Microbes for the Soil. —Professor 
Bottomley, lecturing at the London Insti¬ 
tution recently on the “Wonders of the 
Soil,” stated that our cousins on the other 
side of the Atlantic have solved the prob¬ 
lem of inoculating the soil with nitrogen 
fixing microbes, and that astonishing re¬ 
sults have been obtained. If our memory 
serves us right, that idea was first made 
in Germany, but carried to greater per¬ 
fection in America. He exhibited a 
small quantity of these microbes in the 
dried state, and said that when dissolved 
in water there was sufficient for an acre 
of land at a cost only of 2d. These mi¬ 
crobes are in the first place serviceable 
to leguminous crops, such as Clover, 
Peas, and Beans, but the fact remains that 
after those crops have been removed the 
soil is richer in fixed nitrogen than it was 
before the crops were planted. The sow¬ 
ing of these microbes is most productive 
of results on poor soil where leguminous 
crops succeed admirably after this treat¬ 
ment. 
Maclaren and Sons. 
Lilium speciosum Melpomene. 
Lilium Speciosum 
- - Melpomene. 
The variety Melpomene is the finest of 
the numerous forms in this Japanese Lily. 
In some establishments possibly the white 
variety is received with more favour, but 
amongst the coloured ones it would be diffi¬ 
cult to beat this for size and richness of 
colouring. The ground colour is white, 
but this is heavily overlaid with a deep rose 
intensifying to crimson on the spots, which 
are very numerous and very pronounced, 
as may be seen by reference to the accom¬ 
panying illustration. 
Dutch bulbs of this Lily usually arrive 
in this country about the end of October, 
and those who wish for flowers as early- 
as possible should pot them up at once. 
The supplies from Japan reach us usually 
about the end of the year. For flowering 
in a greenhouse the bulbs may be put 
singly into pots just sufficiently large to 
take them for the purpose of starting them. 
They can be potted into a larger size after 
some growth has been made. Another 
plan is to put the bulbs singly in 5 in. or 
6 in. pots, or larger size according to the 
dimensions of the bulb. The bulbs should 
be placed at least an inch below the top 
of the soil because roots are given off from 
the same just above the bulb, and these 
require something from which to draw 
nourishment to support the flower stem 
and encourage the production of flowers 
of good size. 
In the open air a warm and sunny 
situation should be selected in which to 
plant the bulbs. If there is already a bed 
of peaty soil occupied with dwarf shrubs, 
such as Heaths, Azaleas, or Kalmias, they 
can be planted in such, as the shrubs 
seme to shelter the young stems and leaves 
in the spring time when the weather is fre¬ 
quently unsettled and windy. The shade 
will also keep the ground cool about the 
roots, as Lilies like a fair amounuof mois¬ 
ture during the warmer periods of our 
summer. A considerable quantity of peat 
in the soil is o£ advantage in keeping the 
ground cool. 
For pot work a compost may be made 
up of equal parts of fibrous peat and loam, 
with a sufficient quantity of sharp sand to 
make the soil open. Owing to the species 
