178 ?Tt)e fartoen's 



ure. Climate and culture have much to do with 

 it, but the main reason of its failure is beyond 

 this. Investigation has only recently brought to 

 light the chief cause of its disappointment. In 

 its own home it is infested by a mite, which, 

 however, does not seem to cause trouble until it 

 leaves its native country. The enfeeblement in- 

 cident to the removal of the bulb, together with 

 the difference of soil and climate, cause its de- 

 terioration. Some unusually strong round bulbs, 

 which may not be so much affected, if placed 

 amid congenial surroundings, are able to resist 

 this tendency ; and it is only by selecting a quan- 

 tity of the best bulbs to start with, and retaining 

 the most robust of these after the first year's 

 flowering, that we may hope to establish this 

 lily ; that is, unless it can be grown more suc- 

 cessfully from scales or seed, a process seldom 

 tried in this country, where we have not the 

 patience to wait. Of fifty bulbs, perhaps only 

 one third, more frequently a quarter or less, re- 

 main after the second year, even when grown 

 under the most advantageous circumstances. 

 This is what the term "home-grown Lilium 

 auratum " means, or is supposed to mean ; 

 for the loss is always so great that few care 

 to deal in auratum bulbs, except as directly 

 imported. 



