22 ARISTOCRATS OF THE GARDEN 



of the U. S. Navy, the Japanese discovered that Lily 

 bulbs could be sold for much money, so they began 

 ransacking their country in quest of these bulbs. 

 In those early days we are told the Yama-juri, or 

 Mountain Lily (L. auratum), grew abundantly in 

 the volcanic ash and detritus which form the slopes 

 of sacred and sublime Mount Fuji. To-day it still 

 grows there but in decreasing numbers; yet it is even 

 now the most common wild Lily in Japan. In the 

 volcanic deposits throughout the province of Idzu 

 it is abundant and near by on the small island of 

 Oshima, whose central part is an ever active vol- 

 cano, grows in quantity the broad-leaved auratum 

 (L. auratum, var. platyphyllum). 



For western markets the dealers demand Lily 

 bulbs of certain sizes. After a few years the Japanese 

 discovered that the supply of wild bulbs meeting the 

 necessary requirements was virtually exhausted, but 

 they quickly found that in rich, moist farm land, in one 

 or at most two years, they could grow the small bulbs 

 culled from the mountain slopes and moorlands into 

 large saleable bulbs and, incidentally, that the larger 

 the bulb the higher its market value. Then began 

 in Japan the growing of Lily bulbs for the western 

 markets and here commenced the troubles of would-be 

 cultivators in the Occident of Lilium auratum. In 



