Scientific American Supplement, No. 803, May 23, 1891 | Page 4

lily of the
valley from February till the out-door season is over. To do this with
imported clumps would, of course, be most costly, and far beyond what
any person ought to spend on mere flowers. Though it must be
remembered that it is an immense advantage to the parish priest to be
able to take bright and sweet flowers to the bedside of the sick, or to

gratify the weary spirit of a confirmed invalid, confined through all the
lovely spring time to the narrow limits of a dull room, with the fragrant
flowers of the lily of the valley. I determined, therefore, that I would
have an abundance of early lilies, and that they should not be costly,
but simply produced at about the same expense as any other flowers,
and I have been very successful in accomplishing this by very simple
means. First of all, it is necessary to have the means of forcing, that is
to say the required heat, which in my case is obtained from an early
vinery. I have seen lilies forced by pushing the clumps in under the
material for making a hot bed for early cucumbers, the clumps being
drawn out, of course, as soon as the flowers had made a good start.
They have then to be carefully and very gradually exposed to full light,
but often, although fine heads of bloom may be produced in this way,
the leaves will be few and poor.
My method is simply this: In the kitchen garden there is the old original
bed of lilies of the valley in a corner certainly, but not a dark corner.
This is the reservoir, as were, from whence the regular supply of heads
for special cultivation is taken. This large bed is not neglected and left
alone to take care of itself, but carefully manured with leaf mould and
peat moss manure from the stable every year. Especially the vacant
places made by taking out the heads for cultivation are thus filled up.
Then under the east wall another piece of ground is laid out and divided
into four plots. When I first began to prepare for forcing I waited four
years, and had one plot planted with divided heads each year. Clumps
are taken up from the reserve bed and then shaken out and the heads
separated, each with its little bunch of fibrous roots. They are then
carefully planted in one of the plots about 4 in. or 5 in. apart, the
ground having previously been made as light and rich as possible with
plenty of leaf mould. I think the best time for doing this is in autumn,
after the leaves have turned yellow and have rotted away; but
frequently the operation has been delayed till spring, without much
difference in the result.
Asparagus is usually transplanted in spring, and there is a wonderful
affinity between the two plants, which, of course, belong to the same
order. It was a long time to wait--four years--but I felt there was no use
in being in too great a hurry, and every year the plants manifestly
improved, and the buds swelled up nicely and looked more plump each

winter when the leaves were gone. It must be remembered also that a
nice crop of flowers could be gathered each year. When the fourth year
came, the first plot was divided up into squares about 2 ft. each way,
and taken up before any hard frost or snow had made their appearance,
and put away on the floor of an unused stable. From the stable they are
removed as required in the squares to the vinery, where they grow
beautifully, not sending up merely fine heads of bloom without a
vestige of leaf, but growing as they would in spring out of doors with a
mass of foliage, among which one has to search for the spikes of flower,
so precious for all sorts of purposes at that early season of the year.
The spikes produced in this way do not equal in thickness and
substance of petal the flowers which come from more carefully
prepared clumps imported from Berlin, but they are fine and strong,
and above all most abundant. I can not only supply the house and small
vases for the church, but also send away boxes of the flowers to friends
at a distance, besides the many gifts which can be made to those who
are ill or invalids. Few gifts at such a time are more acceptable than a
fragrant nosegay of lily of the valley. In order to keep the supply of
prepared roots ready year after year, a plot of ground has only to be
planted each autumn, so that in the rotation of years it may be ready for
forcing when