One great advantage of this lovely spring flower is that it can be so readily and easily forced. Gardeners in large places usually spend several pounds in the purchase of crowns and clumps of the lily of the valley, which they either import direct from foreign nurserymen or else procure from their own dealer in such things, who imports his lilies in large quantities from abroad. But we may well ask, Have foreign gardeners found out some great secret in the cultivation of this plant? Or is their climate more suitable for it? Or their soil adapted to growing it and getting it into splendid condition for forcing? It is impossible that the conditions for growing large and fine heads of this lily can be in any way better in Berlin or elsewhere than they are in our own land, unless greater heat in summer than we experience in England is necessary for ripening the growths in autumn. There is another question certainly as to varieties; one variety may be superior to another, but surely if so it is only on the principle of the survival of the fittest, that is to say, by carefully working on the finest forms only and propagating from them, a strong and vigorous stock may be the result, and this stock may be dignified with a special name. For my own part what I want is to have a great abundance of 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.