REPRODUCTION" FROM SEED. 17 



There exists a widespread belief that in raising plants from seed a 

 long time elapses before the}- come into bloom, and it is urged against 

 the seed method that a certain percentage of the plants in a batch are 

 late in coming into flower. It should be remembered, however, that 

 this is more or less the case with all kinds of plants where the method 

 of vegetative reproduction is suddenly changed to that of reproduction 

 from seed. In all cases this irregularity of the blooming period lasts 

 only for a time. 



There is a possibility of fixing types in seedling lilies as in all other 

 plants raised from seed, but just how long a time would elapse before 

 this desired result would be attained has not been determined. A few 

 generations would probably cover the period. 



But even were there no possibilities of fixing types from seminal 

 reproduction, the supposition that this method of propagation is a 

 drawback because of late bloomers is very erroneous. This point has 

 been raised against the method chiefly because it has never been tried 

 systematically. A batch has been raised giving only about To per 

 cent of bulbs that can be depended upon to produce plants that will 

 open their flowers within, say, a period of ten days; but even so, with 

 the gain of increased* vigor and the saving of time required in the 

 production of a marketable bulb, it will pay handsomely, even if the 

 late bloomers are discarded while in the growing stage in the field and 

 only the early blooming bulbs are harvested. However, there is no 

 necessity for so radical a treatment. The early bloomers can be sepa- 

 rated from those which bloom late, and sold accordingly. There is a 

 demand for healthy bulbs at whatever time the}- bloom. Furthermore, 

 by judicious selection of seed parents — that is, those which come ear- 

 liest into bloom, having other desirable characteristics to recommend 

 them — and by careful cross-fertilization of these forms there is an 

 absolute Certainty of fixing types which wiri be satisfactory in every 

 respect. 



Nearly every lily has been propagated asexual ly up to the present 

 time, and the system is, to a certain extent, answerable for the wretched 

 condition of the crops, which, even with intelligent care in our green- 

 houses, show from -10 to 60 per cent of diseased plants. Most growers 

 would greatly prefer to have only 25 per cent of late bloomers in a 

 batch of healthy bulbs from seed than that the present conditions 

 affecting the Bermuda and Japan bulbs should continue. 



25973— No. 39—03 -2 



