10 PROPAGATION OF EASTER LILY FROM SEED. 



health} r plant. During the past year complaints have been received 

 from some of the largest growers that of their plants the bulbs of 

 which were obtained from Japan and Bermuda from 20 to 60 per cent 

 were diseased, and almost all of these were unsalable. 



The causes of the diseased condition of the plants have been inves- 

 tigated by the best pathologists in this country and in Europe. Mr. 

 A. F. Woods, Pathologist and Physiologist of the Bureau of Plant 

 Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture, issued a bulletin in 1897 

 giving the result of his investigations of the lily disease/' In this 

 work the causes of the disease are discussed and remedies suggested. 

 The florists of this country, however, who force the lilies have not 

 the remedies in their own hands, as the disease is present in the bulbs 

 before they are imported. In a later paper Mr. Woods has discussed 

 the relation of nutrition to the health of plants, with special reference 

 to Lilium harr'ixiiJ' 



Lily growing on the Bermuda Islands is an exceedingly profitable 

 industry. Practically all the land available for the production of bulbs 

 is utilized for this purpose, and while the rotation of crops, together 

 with the most approved methods of selection and cultivation, would 

 undoubtedly be eventually a good policy for the growers to pursue, 

 yet, except in the case of the more progressive growers, there is little 

 likelihood of this being done, as it would materially decrease the 

 revenue from lily farming for the time being. This will readily be 

 understood when it is stated that an acre of lilies will bring from 

 $1,000 to $2,0oo. Some growers on the islands who thoroughly appre- 

 ciate the importance of careful methods are using small bulbs in pref- 

 erence to scales, and are selecting and fertilizing carefully, but they 

 are heavily handicapped by the many small growers who cultivate 

 their crops according to old methods; and in these cases there is no 

 selection with a view to producing and perpetuating good types. Little 

 manure is given. The methods of propagation are very faulty and 

 they have not been changed since the beginning of the industry in 

 the islands. For instance, in the growing of the bulbs for American 

 markets the smaller sizes are planted in the fall and harvested in July, 

 or before the bulbs have thoroughly ripened. In the process of han- 

 dling, many of the immature scales drop from the bulbs. These are 

 not thrown away, as they ought to be, but are carefully saved and 

 planted with a view to raising small bulbs. These bulbs ultimately 

 form a large part of the general crop. 



As a result of some investigations made by the LTnited States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, it has been shown that by the use of seeds instead 



"Bulletin No. 14, Vegetable Physiology and Pathology, U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture, 1897. 



& Yearbook U. S. Department of Agriculture, 1901, pp. 155-176. 



