The ground should be spaded very deeply and an abundance of well-
rotted manure worked in, but on no account use fresh manure on lily
beds. If the soil is heavy or clayey, the addition of sharp sand will
make it light and porous. Use plenty of sand and mix into the soil
thoroughly. If the lilies are to be grown in beds let these be about
three feet wide and as long as desired. Put the bulbs in deep. Six
inches is good, but eight is better, and a mulch of straw should be kept
over them the first year.
Whenever possible to do so, lily bulbs should invariably be procured
and planted in the fall of the year. After planting, it will not be neces-
sary to move them ; in fact it will be better not to for three or four
years. In moving them, be very careful in lifting not to break or
bruise the roots at the base of the bulb; if these are injured it may
cause the bulb not to bloom for the next season, or, perhaps to decay.
In growing the lily, to get the best result, select a perfectly dry spot
where no water will stand in the winter.
Calla lilies usually bloom from fall all through the winter until quite
late in the spring. When the flowering season is over, the pot in which
it is growing should be set out doors under a tree or other shady place
and no water given it whatever. Along in August or September turn
it out of the pot, remove all the small bulbs and reset the parent one in
a four-inch pot. When you give water let it be lukewarm at first, and
gradually increase the temperature until it is boiling hot.
The so-called spotted calla lily is correctly Richardia maculata.
With the exception that the leaves are covered with white spots, it does
not differ from the calla.
PROPAGATING PLANTS
One of the first necessary conditions is that the plant from which the
cutting or slip is taken must be in vigorous health. One of the best guides
to the proper condition, is when the cutting breaks or snaps clean off,
instead of bending or kneeing. If it snaps off so as to break, it will
root freely ; if it bends it is too old, and though it may root, it will root
much slower and make a weaker plant.
The best condition to root cuttings of the great majority of green-
house plants is sixty-five degrees of bottom heat and an atmospheric
118 FLOWERS.
temperature of fifteen degrees less. Sand is the best medium in which
to place cuttings ; color or texture is of no especial importance. From
the time the cuttings are inserted until they are rooted they should
never be allowed to get dry ; it is best to keep the sand soaked with
water. Kept thus saturated there is less chance of the cutting getting
wilted, for if a cutting is once wilted, its juices are expended. Permit-
ting a moderate circulation of air in the propagating house prevents the
germination of that spider-like web substance which is known as
" fungus of the cutting bench." It is best to pot off the cuttings at
once when rooted. They should be placed in small pots from two to
two and a half inches wide. In larger pots the soil, dries out too slowly
and the tender root rots.
Page 104
Presented as published in 1886. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
The ground should be spaded very deeply and an abundance of wellrotted manure worked in, but on no account use fresh manure on lily beds. If the soil is heavy or clayey, the addition of sharp sand will make it light and porous. Use plenty of sand and mix into the soil thoroughly. If the lilies are to be grown in beds let these be about three feet wide and as long as desired. Put the bulbs in deep. Six inches is good, but eight is better, and a mulch of straw should be kept over them the first year.
Whenever possible to do so, lily bulbs should invariably be procured and planted in the fall of the year. After planting, it will not be necessary to move them ; in fact it will be better not to for three or four years. In moving them, be very careful in lifting not to break or bruise the roots at the base of the bulb; if these are injured it may cause the bulb not to bloom for the next season, or, perhaps to decay. In growing the lily, to get the best result, select a perfectly dry spot where no water will stand in the winter.
Calla lilies usually bloom from fall all through the winter until quite late in the spring. When the flowering season is over, the pot in which it is growing should be set out doors under a tree or other shady place and no water given it whatever. Along in August or September turn it out of the pot, remove all the small bulbs and reset the parent one in a four-inch pot. When you give water let it be lukewarm at first, and gradually increase the temperature until it is boiling hot.
The so-called spotted calla lily is correctly Richardia maculata. With the exception that the leaves are covered with white spots, it does not differ from the calla.
PROPAGATING PLANTS
One of the first necessary conditions is that the plant from which the cutting or slip is taken must be in vigorous health. One of the best guides to the proper condition, is when the cutting breaks or snaps clean off, instead of bending or kneeing. If it snaps off so as to break, it will root freely ; if it bends it is too old, and though it may root, it will root much slower and make a weaker plant.
The best condition to root cuttings of the great majority of greenhouse plants is sixty-five degrees of bottom heat and an atmospheric
temperature of fifteen degrees less. Sand is the best medium in which to place cuttings ; color or texture is of no especial importance. From the time the cuttings are inserted until they are rooted they should never be allowed to get dry ; it is best to keep the sand soaked with water. Kept thus saturated there is less chance of the cutting getting wilted, for if a cutting is once wilted, its juices are expended. Permitting a moderate circulation of air in the propagating house prevents the germination of that spider-like web substance which is known as " fungus of the cutting bench." It is best to pot off the cuttings at once when rooted. They should be placed in small pots from two to two and a half inches wide. In larger pots the soil, dries out too slowly and the tender root rots.