The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1888-04-11
now TO CROW LILIES OF THE

From &rd,rbridge & Cgohier's Quarterly.
The lily of the valley is such we'll
known perennial that description of it
seems useless; yet, for the benefit of those
who are only familiar with this beautiful
little plant as an attractive feature of
bouquet, it may be said that the root of
the lily of the valley is fibrous, and that
the leaves grow in pairs, their stalks
sheathing one within the other, one leaf
being usually larger than the other. In
form the leaves are radical, on long stalks,
somewhat elliptical, deeply ribbed, and
marked with delicate tracery of nerves
and veins. The flower stalk, which springs
from the root, and is about equal in length
to the leaves, bears beautiful, white bell
shaped flowers, which hang in graceful
raceme on the arching flower-stem. The
most favorite form of the lily is the one
here illustrated, called the Berlin variety.
The richer the SOIL the better, In the
cultivation of the lily. An excellent bed
is one formed of leaf mould. When the
soil is stiff and heavy, mix with it leaf
mould and sand, in the proportion of two
parts to one. Leaf mould and COW dung
should be literally given to light but
poor soil, since rich porous soil is essen
tial.
When outdoor culture is intended, in
order to secure continuous bloom, select
various positions, varying from shaded
to sunny aspects. By so doing the lilies
will be in bloom till midsummer. The
lily beds must be neither too wet nor too
dry, as the lily will not flower under
either extreme condition.
When planting-out in the garden a
of one, two, and three years old
crowns is necessary in order to keep-up
a good annual display. Plant the three
year old crowns at distance of three
inches apart; and place a one-year and
a two-year old crown alternately between
them, Allow from four to 81 xinches be.
tween the rows. A bed thus planted will
not need to be disturbed for six years,
provided that good top dressing be an
nually applies
When one has the facilities for growing
ones own plants, procure quantity of
one and two year old crowns. Make beds
about four feet in width, each to contain
six rows of plants. Mark -out parallel
lines for the trenches. Press spade
perpendicularly into soil about five inches
deep, then draw the spade towards you,
holding one hand on the top of the ham
die, and the other half way down. When
the trench is of required length, drop in
the plants at distance Of one inch apart.
Take care that the soil Immediately sur
rounding the plants be very firm. Plant
crowns of the same age together. When
the succeeding spring and summer are
dry or hot, water the lilies copiously and
often. Apply weekly moderately strong
solution of liquid manure, during the
summer months.
Commence lifting late In October, and
end early 10 March. Care must be taken
in digging up crowns to place the fork
eight inches under the surface, imbedding
the prong in a mass of fibrous roots.
Shake the earth from the portion raised,
before removing to the house, where
and separating take place.
Clean by removing the dead leaves,
weeds, and other rotten vegetable matter.
Sorting aud separating require careful
discrim nation. The three year old flow
ering crowns are plump, and Of a liyid
brown color; from the base of the crown
and nearly to the top, they are very thick
and comparatively hard, but suddenly
merge into narrow neck, with an acute
point. They are usually half an inch In
ieuRtu. lWO-ycdr Oiu CAoWuS "to oOm-
monty of dirty white color, and of the
same uniform size all the way, very grad
ually forming into point; they are also
thinner The one-year old crowns are
similar in shape to the last, but are much
smaller and of pure white; they will be
found attached to the main stalk of the
two or three. year old crowns, from which
they must be separated without injuring
the main stem.
OF the single-hower form there are
three notable varieties, the first possess
ing all the attractions of the typical
species, in addition to its golden striped
the foliage of the second variety
is distinctly margined with broad silvery
bands forming a striking contrast With
the remaining portions of the leaf; and
the third variety is one that produces
flower stems one foot in height, the flow
ers are large and much expanded, and
the foliage broadly margined with gold.
The double flower form of the lily is not
mended. In autumn, beautiful waxy
crimson berries are seen on the lily OF the
valley.
The forcing house should consist Of
span roof built low, to prevent the radia-
ton of the heat During frosty and
windy weather and on cold and cloudy
days, fssten mats or canvas cover on
the outside of the roof. Boxes instead
of pots are used for plunging lilies. Cover
the bottom of the box with sand to the
depth of an inch; also pile sand against
one side of the box. The crowns are
then inserted close to the sand, in per
pendicuar position, aud parallel with the
side of the box; against these put more
sand, then another row of crowns, and 80
ON until the box is full. Leave space
Of one inch between each crown, while
the distance from one row to another
should be at least one and -a-half inch
es. To ensure success, each plant must
be upright and firmly imbedded in the
plunging material, and the flower bud
kept we'll above the level of the earth.
Forcing is an important branch 10 lily
For this purpose use boxes
about six inches deep, two feet long, and
one foot wide. A span roof house, nj
teen feet in diameter, will contain two
beds, and allow pathway IN the middle
and one on each SIDE After we'll watering
the box of plunged lilies, cover with
three inches of clean, fresh gathered
moss, and cover the top of the bed with
boards or shutters. The heat should be
kept near to ninety degrees, and the air
be kept moist by sprinkling water upon
the outside of the bed, and over the floor
Of the house daily. At the end Of three
weeks, the plants will have grown two or
three inches, and the flowers will be put.
W. ROBERTS.