HINTS ON LILY CULTURE 
How Big? 
T HE size of a lily bulb does not al¬ 
ways indicate its flowering qualities. 
It is true that a very small bulb is 
not expected to bloom and a large one 
should. And by that I do not mean 
the different forms of bulb peculiar to 
the different species; although that is 
an interesting subject. A bulb of L. 
cernuum or pumilum one-half inch 
in diameter may bloom beautifully, 
while a giganteum three inches across 
may not bloom at all. 
As most of you know, a lily forms 
the flower bud a year previous to 
blooming. Cut a lily bulb through the 
growing point and next year’s flower 
bud may be seen. Perhaps with the 
aid of a magnifying glass and a little 
stain the buds may be counted. Follow¬ 
ing a favorable growing season, bulbs 
less than a half an inch in diameter 
of some of the quickly maturing spe¬ 
cies may bloom freely. Another year 
following poor cultivation, drouth or 
other adverse conditions the same size 
bulbs may not flower at all. I have 
counted 24 blooms on a bulb that 
measured eight inches in circumfer¬ 
ence but due to lack of cultivation and 
the strain of bearing thoses blossoms 
and the resulting seed crop it bore 
fewer blooms the next year. 
A bulb grower soon learns to judge 
the potential flowering power of his 
bulbs and will not send out a bulb that 
he thinks will not flower. However, 
many bulbs are dug after the stalks 
have died and the size of the bulb is 
the only measure of its possibilities. 
Sometimes a mole working under a 
bulb disturbs it and checks develop¬ 
ment. Perhaps botrytis strikes the 
plant just when the leaves are needed 
to feed the bulb. Or in weeding a 
flower stalk may be pulled or broken 
off. This stops development at once, 
but at digging time the bulb may look 
like its neighbors and go to market 
with them. 
I WANT to sell 800 mixed Darwin 
tulips. 40 for $1.00 or 100 for $2.25, 
prepaid with Lilies. 
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