SOBER SUMMER 131 



fectly simple proposition; either you kill all these 

 "aster beetles," or the beetles eat out and destroy 

 all your asters. No spraying, no powdering, no 

 anything but a petroleum bath ! 



I had been puzzled to know why the tiger 

 lilies that seemed so well pleased for two years, in 

 the long border along the axis walk, are now 

 quietly getting away. It is a habit lilies have, I 

 know; but I thought this variety, which I have 

 seen in great beds, apparently decades old, would 

 stay with me. The situation was seemingly just 

 right, but "Chinese" Wilson's fine treatise on the 

 lily family, which I have just read, convinces me 

 even more fully of my ignorance. The bloom this 

 August is scanty and weak, and the apparent 

 reason is that I have the bulbs in a really damp 

 place, whereas Mr. Wilson insists that they must 

 have ample drainage. It is a matter of moving 

 again. 



Other lilies there ought to be in this garden; 

 but there's a pocket-book reason ! Some time the 

 stately auratum, the nodding canadense, the fine 

 lancifolium sorts will come into the borders, I 

 hope, and to stay. I am the more anxious since I 

 learn again of Wilson that they will thrive in my 

 home-made leaf-mold. But I ought not to forget 

 Lilium Henryi which has located, seemingly, and 



