64 NOTES ON LILIES 



reasonable doubt, though nobody would have suspected it from casual 

 observation. The conclusion is that Lilies, or at least the principal 

 species of the genus, when hybridised, produce offspring which show the 

 features of the . male parent very slightly, or only in exceptional cases. 

 These exceptional cases are, nevertheless, so remarkable at times, that the 

 rarity of their occurrence ought not to discourage the hybridist." Francis 

 Parkman, United States, Garden, Jan. 5, 1878. 



On Hybridisation of Lilies, by C. M. Hovey, late President of the 

 Massachusetts Horticultural Society. 



" With us Japanese Lilies begin to open their first flowers on the 20th 

 of August, almost to a day, when our weather is warm and dry, and they 

 continue in great beauty until destroyed or defaced by frost, about the 

 2nd or 3rd of October. We have noticed the bad effects of damp weather 

 on the blooms, and, to prolong them in perfection, have put an awning of 

 cotton cloth over the beds to protect them from heavy dews and the hot 

 sun, which immediately affect the delicate texture and brilliant spotting of 

 the petals. 



" Auratum does not appear to be very successfully treated, and it is 

 believed that, notwithstanding the tens of thousands of its bulbs that are 

 annually imported overland, and sold in our markets in very fine order, 

 not one in ten can be found alive the second year. There is no doubt it 

 is much less hardy then Speciosum, requires a lighter and warmer soil, 

 and a drier situation, and will not readily submit to the rough and ready 

 cutting under which the latter will thrive, Speciosum being in fact, just as 

 tough as Tigrinum. Auratum is difficult to raise from seed. It usually 

 vegetates the first season, but the seedlings appear weak, and gradually 

 disappear ; at least, such has been my experience in regard to it. Three 

 years ago, I had four very large plump seed pods on one plant, some of 

 the flowers of which were fertilized with Speciosum ; and, though only a 

 small portion of the seed was fertile, what did vegetate gradually faded 

 away under the same treatment as Speciosum. On the other hand, as I 

 stated previously, Speciosum, fertilised with Auratum, seemed to furnish 

 seedlings, which received renewed vigour from fertilisation. My first 

 experiments of any extent were commenced in 1846, when I had some 

 two dozen fine plants, in pots, grown for that purpose, many of them being 

 7 feet high. I then fertilised Speciosum with Superbum, Candidum, Specio- 

 sum Album, and Chalcedonicum ; Punctatum with Speciosum, Aurantiacum, 

 Superbum, and Chalcedonicum; Album with Speciosum, and some others. 

 Three j'ears is the usual time for the seedlings to bloom ; and as they 

 rarely make their appearance until the second year, it was in 1850 that 

 they produced flowers. By this time (three years) many of the labels, 

 corresponding with the above crosses, had rotted off, and were unfor- 

 tunately lost. However, suffice it to say, that to us, who watched them 

 with a florist's eye, everyone appeared to differ. In some, the petals were 

 much reflexed ; in others, they were narrow ; some were rosy, others 

 very deeply covered, some of the spots or papilla were small, others 

 large; some of the spots crimson, others, almost black. The worst among 

 them were better than the old Speciosum ; but I found my list too long, 

 and the distinctions too fine, except to those who could like the true 



