I 
LILIES. 
Probably no genus of cultivated plants is so well known and highly prized as this. The species are 
among the grandest and most beautiful of cultivated bulbs. About all the species are hardy in well- 
drained soil. It is well, however, as a precaution against very severe frost, to cover the bulbs in autumn. 
A few inches of horse manure, well mixed with straw, as it often is when it comes fresh from the stable, 
makes a very good covering; besides, the rains and melting snow carry the fertilizing strength of this 
down into the soil before it is removed in the spring; and thus, it answers a double purpose. Two or 
three inches of forest leaves, with a thin layer of swale hay to hold them in place, is also good. Some of 
the stronger-growing kinds are well suited for planting among shrubbery. 
In the cultivation of Lilies, the first and most important requirement is good drainage. If the soil 
itself is not suited to the species, it may be easily modified by the use of such mixtures as sand, peat and 
leaf-mold, but without the drainage all such are useless. Better not to allow the bulbs to be exposed to 
the air or light any great length of time ; the outside scales of such exposed bulbs wither, which greatly 
diminishes their strength. It is, therefore, generally better to obtain bulbs fresh from the nursery, which, 
if packed in damp spaghnum mogs immediately after lifting, will stand a journey of 8 or 12 days. 
Lilies often do much better the second year after planting. Bulbs fresh from the nursery, taken 
up with their entire roots and packed so that their roots do not dry or wither, do not usually take so much 
time to get a start. It is generally believed that the best time to set Lilies is in autumn, but I have had 
quite as good success with spring setting. If they are taken fresh from the nursery before they have, 
advanced too far in growth, they do nicely. Imported or “store ” bulbs, which usually have no roots 
should be set in early autumn for the best results the following season. Always bear in mind when 
setting Lilies that they not only send out roots to a good depth below the bulbs, but from where 
the stem joins the bulb to very near the surface of the bed, roots will form, and these need feeding as much 
as those at the bottom. Do not let the bulbs come in contact with this enriched soil. Place a third of an 
inch or more of clear sand or light loam under or next to the bulb, and cover with the same before the 
enriched soil is drawn over them. The enriched soil often rots the bulbs when allowed to come in contact 
with them. Do not plant too deep nor too shallow. If the bulbs could be set 4 inches deep at first, and 
then after they are up, say 6 inches high, a covering of 2 inches of good, fine leaf-mold could be placed 
over them as a mulch, they would be treated as I like to treat them. Without mulch, set 6 inches deep. 
Well-decayed peat is also an excellent mulch. MY STOCK IS MOSTLY FRESH FROM BEDS. 
