SO MASSACHUSETTS BORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



mentions thirteen: five varieties of the Martagon Imperial, among 

 them the Spotted Martagon of Canada (our native canadense) ; 

 six varieties of the Umbellati lilies; croceum, the golden red lily; 

 bulbiferum, the red bulbed lily; and the remaining two he describes 

 as white lilies. He adds: "the Martagon is so common I will 

 not lose time to bestow many lines upon it." 



Kaempfer, Linnaeus, and Thunberg described several species and 

 varieties as early as 1712. The earliest attempt to publish a mono- 

 graph of the genus Liliuni was in 1847, by Spae. He, being a 

 skilled horticulturist and botanist, based his work on careful ob- 

 servations of living forms making it by far the most complete and 

 useful account of the genus, until DuChatre of Paris, Baker of Kew, 

 and Max Leichtlin of Carlsruhe gave the results of their labors to 

 the world in 1870. In 1879 Prof. Sereno Watson published his 

 revision of North American Lilies, a very complete work. Other 

 workers have given the results of their labors in various publications. 

 The finest work devoted exclusively to lilies is a monograph of the 

 genus by Henry John Elwes, published in 1880, containing about 

 50 folio plates colored by hand, illustrating over 60 species with 

 very full and accurate description, life history, classification, geo- 

 graphical distribution, habitats, culture, etc. 



Very little literature is found in American publications previous 

 to 1870. Since that time the horticultural press has given us notes 

 and articles on the subject, but mostly on forcing lilies, and quota- 

 tions from foreign publications, excepting "Garden and Forest," 

 which contained many original articles on the species. Horticul- 

 ture met with a loss in the discontinuance of this excellent paper. 

 If, however, the amateur looks to foreign publications for notes 

 and cultural directions, he finds they are not suited to his needs in 

 this climate. As for instance telling us to grow Lilivm tenuifolium 

 (from seed) in a hot bed, at a temperature of 70°; and in pots 

 or pans of turfy loam, peat, and leaf-mould with the addition of 

 one-sixth part of silver sand; also the seeds to be covered with fine 

 soil to a depth equal to the diameter of the seed, i. e. one-eighth 

 of an inch, and gently watered; when the plants appear to re- 

 move them to a vinery or greenhouse, where they should be placed 

 in an airy position, kept well supplied with water, which in Sep- 

 tember should be gradually withheld and discontinued after October; 



