JAPAN LILIES. 



appear ; but in both cases tbe support is derived from the unexhausted supply laid up 

 during- the previous season, and which would last for a very short time. This is 

 why trees sometimes put forth leaves most promisingly, and wither imder the first 

 warm sun ; the roots being unable to extract sufficient moisture from the soil to com- 

 pensate for evaporation. Just so cuttings often send out leaves, and promise to the 

 uninitiated a rapid growth; and in an hour they are withered. No roots were formed, 

 and the small stock of food laid up in the cells of the cutting was soon exhausted. 



In regard to the management of trees subsequent to planting, we shall have some- 

 thing to say next month. 



THE JAPAN LILIES.* 



These magnificent Lilies, although for many years in cultivation in this country, are 

 still scarce. The high prices — one, two, and three dollars apiece — at which they 

 have been held, as well as the doubt that existed respecting their fitness for open 

 garden culture, have combined in retarding their dissemination, and confined them to 

 a few of the better class of gardens and greenhouses. Now that prices are reasonable 

 and within the reach of persons of moderate means, and as they have proved perfectly 

 hardy, and as easily grown as the common white Lily, we may expect to see them 

 become really popular. They are the very few in this country who will pay two, or 

 three, or five dollars, for a single bulb or a single plant, or who indulge in the luxury 

 of greenhouses and conservatories ; but when we can ofler a really superb plant, hardy 

 and easily grown, at a moderate price, it finds purchasers and planters by the thou- 

 sand and the ten thousand. 



The Lily has always been a special favorite, and is now. Where can we find a 

 garden without its Lilies ? They are all beautiful ; and some of those now very com- 

 mon and little thought of — for instance, the Tiger Lily (Lilium tigrinum), or our 

 native Superb Lily (L. superhuni) — would, if seen for the first time, be pronounced 

 magnificent. These Japan Lilies, however, combine the most brilliant colors with a 

 delicious perfume ; and this gives them a pre-eminence among the Lily tribe. The 

 Crimson Lance-leaved Japan Lily (L. lancifolium rubrum) f has a ground color of 

 rosy-crimson, shading ofl' to white at the edge, and having projecting dots of bright 

 crimson. The White Lance-leaved Japan Lily (L. lancifolium album) is pure white, 

 covered with colorless projecting points. The Sjwtted Lance-leaved Lily {L. lancifo- 

 lium punctalum) is white, with rosy dots. This grows stronger and taller than the 

 others, and blooms earlier, we believe, as a general thing. The height to which the 

 flower-stalks attain varies from two to four feet, according to the strength of bulbs 

 and fitness of soil, culture, &c. They have seeded freely in this country, and large 

 quantities of seedlings have been raised ; but nothing new or distinct, that we are 

 aware of, has been obtained. 



* One of the first and best articles that appeared on the culture of these Lilies in this country, was that 

 Wilder, in Vol. II of UorUcnUurUt, pp. 31-11. t See Frontispiece. 



