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The Chinese Sacred Lily
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Following these preliminary operations the bulbs are submerged in water and left overnight after which they are arranged in an upright position in close order in water-tight vessels in which water is kept at a depth of one to one and a half inches. The type of vessel commonly used for the purpose is a wooden tub of a size suited to easy movability (about 2 feet in diameter and five inches high) and made of China Fir with bamboo hoops (Plate 26, Fig. 2). A hole through the bottom, kept stoppered with a long wooden plug facilitates the changing of the water without disturbing the bulbs.
Figure 2.
Tools used by Narcissus forcers. The smaller ones are kept in the bamboo tube. The scalpel is the one peculiar to the carver's art.
Under ordinary conditions the bulbs are kept in full sunlight and are sprinkled five or six times a day. The water in the tubs is changed daily and the vessels are scrubbed from time to time in order to keep down the growth of algae and other organisms which might be inimical to the healthy and clean development of the plants. The growing plants are religiously pro- tected from exposure to north winds, and usually some temporary barriers of bamboo and straw are constructed in this connection (Plate 27, Fig. 1). If the aggregate amount of sunny weather is greater than that counted on, the development of the plants will be too rapid and they will come into flowering too soon. To counteract this they may have to be shaded more or less. Too much shading, however, results in a disproportionately rapid rate of growth of the leaves which is a thing to be avoided if the final product is to approach the ideal in balance between flowers and foliage.
The plants are given daily attention to keep them clean and tidy, particularly as the flowering time approaches. Every shaggy or frayed scale
December 1932.
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