AND THEIR CULTURE. 47 



if neither of its parents are grown in Japan ? The chances of a hybrid 

 seed being perpetuated, unless under a gardener's care, .are so small, that 

 one can only believe this Lily is a hybrid of English origin. It seems to 

 me an extraordinary thing that so little should be known about the 

 origin of this ; but it gives hopes to us hybridisers, when we consider that 

 neither of the supposed parents are more than 3 feet high, and yet the 

 offspring grows fully 7 feet. If from Pelargonium Inquinans and P. Zonale 

 have been raised the magnificent florists' flowers now common in c^ery 

 garden, what ought wo to expect when we begin to hybridise with ^ach 

 Lilies as Giganteum, AuraUnn, or Tigrinuni Splendens ! The difliculty 

 about raising hybrid Lilies is, that too many seeds are apt to form in the 

 pod, so that none of them properly ripen. This has given me a good 

 deal of trouble ; and I should be thankful to any one for advice on the 

 subject, and also for a list of such Lilies as make plump seeds which will 

 ■germinate freely. Has the common Gandldxm been known to seed in 

 England ? I suppose that if one wants to increase the size of bulb in 

 any Lily, the best way would be to break off the flowering stem as 

 soon as buds are forming.* I liave observed this to be the case with 

 Pijrenaicum, in which variety, if anything injures the flowering stems, 

 the bulbs becomes enormous. Probably we should not hear of nine-tenths 

 of imported Auratum bulbs completely disappearing in three years if they 

 were prevented from flowering the first year by breaking or heading 

 down the stems. I have lately been planting Auratam bulbs, 6 inches 

 deep, in sandy leaf soil, with a good drainage placed 2 feet deeper. 

 These clumps of three bulbs each, are about 4 feet apart, and in the 

 middle of a border, the whole length of which I have laid with 3-inch piping, 

 loose-jointed, 3 inches under the surface. I can turn a tank of water 

 down this piping, and so water all the Lilies at once without watering- the 

 top of the ground. Close to this tank is a pump from a land-spring well, 

 to fill it with. I have made a small tank in the border, about 8 feet long, 

 18 inches deep, and 4 feet wide, with cemented sides. This tank is filled 

 with leaf-soil, and will always be kept in a swampy state from the 

 droppings of the pump. There is no indication as you pass the border 

 of there being a tank underneath ; but I nevertheless hope to grow all 

 the American Swamp Lilies, such as Superbuni or Humboldtii, as well as 

 they grow in their native habitats. 



" Since writing the above, I have searched in the grass for any scales 

 of the White Lily that were lost when we pulled them to pieces. I found 

 a good many scattered about, and nearly all had on them bulblets of the 

 size of a large pea, entirely formed since the end of August, and that, too, 

 when merely protected by long grass. I have this afternoon been digging 

 up in a neighbouring nursery about three dozen bulbs o{ Auratum. Many 

 of the bulbs were planted late, and flowered indifferently ; but, on taking 



tlie known Lilies of Japan. In tliese most beautifully executed paintings (some of which 

 are now in the possession of Mr. G. F. Wilson, of Hcatlierbrook, see Garden, Sept. 0th, 

 1876, p. 254), the birds and insects are most faithfully represented. We must, tlierefore, 

 conclude tliat the Lilies, though amongst them are some very curious forms, are e(£Ually 

 correctly delineated ; amongst these Testaccum is depicted. 



* We have observed this to be the case with many sorts, the foliage becomes larger 

 ;ind darker. 



