442 THE GARDENER. [Oct. 



Las been found so beneficial in the cultivation of land. The inevitable effect of 

 this has been to get rid of rainfall water from the soil in a more rapid manner 

 than has been provided for by nature, and which, finding its way more rapidly 

 into adjoining streams, tends equally with forest destruction to cause floods in 

 our rivers at one time, h,nd to lessen their supplies at another ; or, in other words, 

 to destroy a balance of power provided by nature, and recklessly to waste one 

 of her most precious gifts. With our present limited knowledge there appears 

 but one means whereby this evil can be effectually remedied. It would be 

 impossible to return now to the old system of farming ; neither would it be 

 desirable, even were it practicable. Advancement cannot be checked, but it 

 should be carried out systematically, and with due provision for the maintenance 

 of an equilibrium of forces. In order to do this, the effluent water from culti- 

 vated lands must be conserved, and not permitted to run wastefully away ; and 

 therefore reservoirs must be constructed in connection with the natural water- 

 courses, from which the ordinary rainfall which does not enter deep into the 

 land for the replenishment of springs may be made available for irrigation, and 

 for the better supply of towns and villages with water for drinking and purposes 

 of sewage conservancy." 



A few weeks since, Mr George F. Wilson, F.R.S., exhibited the true 

 form of the Japanese Lilium speciosum, subsequently known as L. 

 lancifolium. The flowers of this one were richly coloured, but the 

 petals were distinctly margined with white, and the edges were not 

 run into by the deep colour spread over the centres of the flowers. 

 The ' Gardeners' Chronicle ' has supplied some information respecting 

 this Lily, of a highly interesting character, which we transfer into our 

 columns. 



"The cultivators of Lilies— and we are glad to think they are increasing in 

 number — owe their thanks to Mr Wilson for directing their attention to the true 

 Lilium speciosum, sometimes known as lancifolium, of which he has on two 

 separate occasions shown well-flowered specimens at the meetings at South 

 Kensington. This Lily is occasionally met with under the name of cruentum, 

 and is very far superior to the dark-coloured varieties usually seen cultivated 

 under the names of lancifolium, rubrum, atrosanguineum, &c, all of which are 

 apparently seedling forms, raised either in this country or on the Continent, and 

 which, we suppose on account of their greater prolificacy, have gradually usurped 

 in most collections the place which belongs rightfully to the variety which Mr 

 Wilson has again brought into notice. The characteristics of this Lily are the 

 following : A stature somewhat below the average ; the flower-buds considerably 

 shorter than ordinary, and consequently broader petals or perianth segments ; 

 more perfectly and evenly recurved, and consequently neater-looking flowers ; 

 a distinct white margin and tips, more apparent on the petaline segments — the 

 colours not being so much run together as in the ordinary forms ; very richly 

 coloured spotting, and a somewhat later period of flowering. When seen there 

 is no mistaking the plant, which at once asserts its pre-eminence over the long- 

 petaled irregularly-recurving forms commonly seen grown in its place. Since 

 the plants above alluded to were exhibited, Ave have met with collateral evidence, 

 supporting Mr Wilson's conclusion as to this finer variety being the form 

 originally introduced from Japan. In one of the secluded bays of the Knaphill 

 Nursery, the home of so many choice old plants, is a bed of Japan Lilies, a large 



