p 



620 EDITOK'3 TABLE. 



Tlie curl i3 comparatirely a recent disease, while sudden changes of the weather date back as far 

 as the recollection of our "oldest inhabitant" I liavc also seen tlie curl under gla«:>, but in a 

 milder form. I think, then, that tlie weather gives to the disease its malignancy by aggravating 

 a constitutional disease of the peaeh, resting in soino cause as yet unknown. 'Will you aecfi)t of 

 the modification ? 



We have little or no potato blight here thi^ yoar, the theory of con:-titutiunal exhaustion to 

 the contrary notwithstanding. A. IIuidekoper. — Mcadvillc, Fa. 



CANADIAN FLOWER GATHERER. — Lilies. 



BY MRS. TRAILL, AUTUOR OF " F O R K S T GLEANINGS," OAKLAND, BICE LAKE, C. W. 



" Behold the lilies, how the grow." 



There is something in the very name Lily* that seems to imply grace and beauty. How naturally 

 does the mind associate ideas of loveliness with the words of the Savior, "Bjhold the Lilies of 

 the field : they toil not, neither do they spin ; and yet I say unto you tliat Solomon in nil his 

 glory was not arrayed like one of these." "These words," says Sir James Smith (a name cele- 

 brated among English botanists), "are commonly applied to the AVhite Lily or the Tulips, neither 

 of which are natives of Palestine. It is natural to presume that the Divine Teacher, according to 

 Ills usual custom, called the attention of his hearers to some object near at hand ; and as the fields 

 of the Levant are overrun with the Amarillus lutea, whose golden liliaceous blossoms in autumn 

 afford one of the most brilliant prospects in nature, tlie expression of 'Solomon in all his glory 

 was peculiarly appropriate." The valleys near Jerusalem at this day are carpeted with these lovely 

 Lilies, serving as a mute illustration of the text. 



The Lily tribe has a wide range, and seems to be found under all climes, in some form or other. 

 It blooms in the frozen zone, as well as beneath the suns of Asia. Dr. Richaudson mentions the 

 Lilium Philadelphicum among the artic flowers, noticing that the root is eaten by the field-mice, 

 and from that circumstance has gained the local name of Mouse-root ; while the Canada porcu- 

 pine {Nystrix pilosa) feeds largely upon the roots of the Lilium glabra. 



I think it is the Liliiim Philadelphicum that adorns our oak openings with its large open bells 

 of gorgeous scarlet, dotted with black spots at the base of each petal, and may be seen raising 

 its stately head above its more lowly comrades — the azure Lupine and white Wiutergrecn (Pyrola 

 rotundifolia) — with which it forms a charming contrast. 



Our woods and plains afford specimens of many liliaceous flowers. Botanists seem to me fond 

 of separating the members of this fair familj--, and putting asunder those whom nature has joined 

 together. All bulbous-rooted, hexandrous, hexapetalous flowers, are naturally allied, and should 

 be, I think, classed in one order. I would arrange all the families of plants in grades, or ste[)s, 

 linkinc them together in a great natural chain. Botanists would doubtless think me presump- 

 tions in proposing any classification opposed to the popular ones in vogue, and possibly great 

 objections might exist which I have not considered. I therefore offer the suggestion with all 

 humility and deference to the learned in the seleneo.1 



But while I lament that the name of Lily is taken from some that I think ought to possess it, 

 I must also observe that it is similarly bestowed upon others who have no claim to it. "Who that 

 has ever floated over the still waters of any of our small inland lakes or slow-flowing rivers, but 

 has been tempted, at the risk of upsetting the frail bark canoe or skiff, to put forth a hand to 

 snatch one of those lovely Water Lilies {Nymphma oioraia) — those queens of the lakes, that rest 

 in spotless pride upon the waters — or gazed down through their depths with wishful and admiring 

 eyes at the exquisite buds, half unfolded, that are springing upward to expand their pure silken 



* I find that Eton, in h« notes to Lilium, observes, " From the Greeli leirion, lily, smooth, graceful ; or 

 Celtic li, whiteness." 



