144 LILIES 



bulbs courts disaster. Of those planted out in autumn, 

 many never show above ground. Those that survive 

 generally throw up flowering stems from material 

 garnered under a foreign sun; but in nine cases out 

 of ten it is their swan song. The basal roots, as 

 distinguished from the surface roots which are thrown 

 out for nourishment of the flower-stem only, having 

 been destroyed, the bulb is deprived of the only 

 channel of nutriment for itself, and, having exhausted 

 the store laid up in its native soil, expires of starvation. 



No species suffers more grievously from maltreatment 

 than the golden-rayed lily (Lilium auratum). It created 

 an immense sensation when it was first brought to this 

 country about sixty years ago ; since which, until the 

 year before the war inclusive, tens of thousands of 

 bulbs have been imported annually from Japan. If 

 only ten per cent, of these had survived transport, 

 every garden worthy of the name in the land would be 

 illumined with the autumnal glory of this splendid 

 flower. As matters stand, it is most seldom that one 

 comes across a group of this lily permanently estab- 

 lished in the open. The effect is so magnificent when 

 it does come off that it is worth any amount of pains 

 to secure it. 



The only chance of prolonging the lives of imported 

 bulbs is to treat them as invalids, keeping them in 

 hospital for six months or longer after arrival. Each 

 bulb should be placed in a six or eight-inch pot (in the 

 case of L. auratum, without lime in the compost) and 

 kept in a cold frame till the pot is full of basal roots. 

 Japanese bulbs are too often infested with mites or 



