Page:The Amateur's Greenhouse and Conservatory.djvu/98

90 6-inch pot in a mixture of maiden loam, bog earth, and leaf soil, with plenty of sand. Put the bulbs in the soil so that they will be covered only one inch in depth. Put them in a frame, and do not cover them with earth or sawdust, but fill in between the pots quite to the rim. Not much water must be given till the cold weather is past. When the frost is severe, mats and straw must be put over the frames. When the spring has arrived, place them on shelves near the glass in airy houses. They now require plenty of air, plenty of light, and plenty of water. When they have expanded all their flowers, put them in a bed out of doors, and put into each pot a little fresh soil on the top. This is beneficial, for when the flowers wither the plants begin to make new bulbs, and the fresh soil will cause the new bulbs to be large and good. As the old bulbs die, it is worth obtaining good ones for the next season. When the leaves begin to die, give them no more water, but put them in a dry frame in the sun, and put the glass on, or lay them on their sides in a hot sunny greenhouse, so that the new bulbs in the pots will be made quite hot for fourteen days or more. Then you may take them all out and pot them for the next season, and you will find large hard bulbs which will bloom the next year better than the first.

.&mdash;These pretty bulbous plants thrive best in a strong yellow loam, but they will flower fairly in any kind of soil. Pot them from June to November to produce a succession of flowers, and when growing freely give plenty of water. When the foliage begins to die down withhold water and put the pots in a dry place where they may remain undisturbed until the season returns for potting them again.

.&mdash;A certain few, amongst the many fine lilies in cultivation, are of great value as pot plants for the embellishment of the conservatory, but are not often so well grown as they might be. The introduction of the noble L. auratum has attracted fresh attention to liliums generally, and the lovely varieties of L. speciosum (lancifolium) have been in increased demand and in many instances of late have been presented at exhibitions in a remarkably fine state of development. The modest L. longiflorum with its pure white flowers, and the dashing L. Fortunei, which is a gigantic variety of L. tigrinum, are worth a little extra care to bring them to perfection. [sic]