B. P. I.— 50. S. P. I. D.— 32 



THE PROPAGATION OF THE EASTER LILY 



FROM SEED. 



THE BERMUDA LILY. 



In the United States Lilium harrisii came into prominence nearly 

 twenty-five years ago, a few bulbs being- brought from the Bermudas 

 about that time. These were propagated and their superiority for 

 early forcing demonstrated. Elwes, in his monograph of the genus 

 Lilium, mentions the introduction of the same variety from Japan into 

 Great Britain at about the same period. He also states that the 

 Lilium longijlorum was introduced into Great Britain by the Royal 

 Horticultural Society in 1819. Lilium harrisii has the distinction of 

 coming into bloom much earlier than the true L. longijlorum with 

 similar treatment. It is probably the type of L. longijlorum which 

 is found farthest south in the region where that species is indigenous. 

 This region comprises southern and central China, the Kiu Kiu 

 Islands, and south Japan. 



From small beginnings a little more than twenty years ago, the 

 Easter-lily industry has assumed vast proportions in recent years. In 

 Bermuda more than 3,000,000 bulbs are exported annually to the 

 United States. In Japan, at the present day. millions of bulbs are 

 grown from seed each year, the demand being so large that enough 

 can not be grown from vegetative reproduction. But, unfortunately, 

 up to the present time there has been no selection from the seedlings. 

 This is the reason why with each importation from Japan many bulbs 

 are found which, when the plants begin to bloom, lack uniformity in 

 size of stem, time of flowering, and other characteristics. It is 

 reported that the Japanese department of agriculture has taken the 

 matter in hand, with a view to inducing the growers to weed out infe- 

 rior seedlings and propagate only from the best. It is owing princi- 

 pally to the decadence of the Bermuda crop that the demand for bulbs, 

 chiefly of L. long/forum from Japan, has increased so very markedly 

 in recent years. In 1879 the value of the bulbs exported from that 



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