AND THEIR CULTURE. 31 



the shoots badly nipped by late frosts, when the others, just coming' out of 

 the g-round, were not in the least injured. My first object was to hy- 

 bridise ; but, as I had then only the Album {Punctatum having done bloom- 

 ing), Speciosiim was fertilised with Album., and vice versa. The result was 

 that every individual blossom produced a pod of fine plump seed, and in 

 three or four years we had many thousand seedling bulbs, fully grown and 

 in bloom. Seeing how readily fertilisation was effected, I thought I would 

 try still farther to ensure hardiness, and next season I planted bulbs of 

 Tigrinum, Canadense, Superhum, Longiforum, and Candidum, so as to have 

 them in bloom at the same period as Speciosum. All succeeded, and I had 

 no fewer than twelve packets of seed, the result of fertilisation, from which 

 I raised the finest of all the Lilies of the type yet produced, including the 

 variety known as Melpomene, each petal of which is completely covered 

 with Ijlood-red, excepting a clear white border on every petal, and the 

 papillae, which are of a black-crimson. In some of the hybrids the form 

 was completely ruined, such as Candidum and Longifiorum ; but the old 

 Speciosum Album., fertilised with Tigrinum, jieidedi very beautiful deep- 

 coloured flowers. For upwards of fifteen years I continued to grow these 

 Lilies from seed, and produced many fine kinds ; but none to excel Mel- 

 pomene. 



" From 18-^0 to 186-5 I cultivated four beds of Japan Lilies, numbering 

 several thousand bulbs ; an awning was erected over the beds, and from 

 August 20th to October 1st they were in fine perfection. L. Brownii (Van 

 Houtte) is another grand Lily. Is it diff'erent from L. Japonicum ? 

 L. Longijlorum is a fine Lily, but it is not so hardy as Gaudidum or 

 Speciosum. A bed of it, 50 feet long, loaded with its great trumpet-shaped 

 fine white flowers, is a glorious sight. L. Eximium is too much like 

 L. Lovgifiorum, i.e., if I had the true sort from Van Houtte. L. Takesima 

 is a great improvement on Longijioram ; it produces more flowers, and the 

 outside of the petals have a slight brownish tinge. L. Testaceum is a 

 desirable Lily, but its lanky stem and meagre foliage detract from its 

 •otherwise good qualities, particularly the very distinct colour of the flowers. 

 Our American Lilies are very showy and beautiful, but their treatment is 

 often misunderstood, as the bulbs of our eastern sorts are all annuals, 

 flowering but once. Our botanical works say nothing of this, and a great 

 many years ago, I failed to bloom them, as I set out the old bulbs. I 

 soon, however, discovered my error when digging them from their native 

 woods ; and, again, they are fastidious as to soil. They never do well in 

 loam, and only flourish in a very loose peaty earth, in which American 

 plants are generally grown. L. Canadense and L. Superbum will succeed 

 in any wet place ; but L. Philaddpldcum will only thrive in a comparatively 

 dry situation. In July, 1873, 1 dug up bulbs of the latter in their native 

 habitats, by the sides of the roads and in peaty pastures, in full bloom. 

 These were laid in a box of sandy peat until October, when they were 

 planted for convenience in boxes a foot square, and 6 inches deep, and 

 last July they all flowered beautifully, and produced a quantity of seeds. 

 Its deep orange crimson flowers spotted with black-purple, erect habit, 

 and tiny foliage, make it very attractive ; bulbs of it not much larger 

 than a pea, often produce one flower. L. Canadense is indigenous in my 



