8 THE BOOK OF THE LILY 



commercial instinct, endeavour to transmit to the old 

 country the flowers of other climes, and this he has been 

 doing ever since newly discovered countries have afforded 

 him the opportunity. 



We owe much to the men of the last century, to 

 those especially who, in the early 'forties and 'fifties down 

 to the present time, explored the wilds of California, the 

 garden treasures of Japan, which had existed unknown 

 to Western peoples probably for centuries. These men, 

 at the risk of their health and often their lives, did their 

 utmost to enrich our gardens with the flower treasures 

 of other countries. Not only have botanists who ex- 

 plored and collected for the sake of science and commerce 

 added to our Lily treasures, but also all sorts of conditions 

 of men, including the opposite extremes of soldiers and 

 missionaries, devoted themselves to this interesting 

 work. 



The world has been ransacked probably of what is 

 best among Lilies, though still we may always expect 

 much from the unexplored regions of China and adjacent 

 unknown tracts ; and when nature has yielded up to our 

 garden delights all the wildlings she possesses, then art 

 must be relied on to give us novelties in the way of 

 seedling variations and hybrids. 



