LILIES FOR THE HOME GARDEN. 81 



the seeds to be placed so far apart that they can grow in the pots or 

 pans as sown (an inch to suffice) ; in November to pot them singly 

 in four-inch pots or three of them in a seven-inch pot, and to winter 

 them in a cool greenhouse. 



Now if this early treatment should be practised here the chances 

 are we would have no use for the directions for culture after Sep- 

 tember, for in our humid days in July and August the novice would 

 find about ninety per cent of his seedlings had disappeared from 

 damping off. 



Here, we sow all the lily seeds out of doors in well-prepared beds 

 five feet wide, in rows one foot apart, covering the seed about an 

 inch with not too fine soil. Instead of an inch apart we sow five to 

 ten or more seeds to the inch; covering the bed thinly with excelsior 

 at once. As soon as the plants appear, removing the excelsior. 

 The only care bestowed upon them after this is to keep the ground 

 clean and the soil loose between the rows. 



Neither are the dealers' catalogues, with a dozen lines of cul- 

 tural directions, of much assistance. While lilies have been culti- 

 vated extensively for nearly three centuries in England very little 

 attention was paid to them here previous to 1850. When this 

 country was colonized, Michaux, Pursh, Bartram, Collinson, and 

 others collected and sent bulbs of our east-coast lilies to Europe, 

 where they have been extensively grown since. Comparatively few 

 varieties of lilies are grown here even today. When the speciosum 

 and auratum and their varieties were introduced they gave an 

 impetus to lily culture. Magnificent results have been obtained in 

 the culture of these, particularly auratum, in the vicinity of Boston 

 and elsewhere. 



From 1860 to 1870 the west-coast varieties were discovered and 

 introduced. There seems to be no more interest in growing now 

 than in the 60s or 70s. Could not this be remedied by more vigor- 

 ous, aggressive work by the press and dealers ? Taking up a dozen 

 catalogues offering lilies, I find one offers 38, one 22, one 13, and 

 the rest less than a dozen varieties, while one dealer in 1876 offered 

 over 40 varieties, and in 1880 one firm offered 59 varieties, having 

 them in stock. This offering only a few varieties, and the fact that 

 the dealers tell you that they are hardy, are two causes why lilies 

 are not more generally grown. I am speaking now of the home 



