THE LILIES 



ing apart like wings. Others, again, have three 

 or four or five petals. The great bulk, how- 

 ever, have the normal six. The variation in 

 color is extreme, ranging from white to dark 

 purple, through surprising changes of com- 

 binations. The methods of growth are equally 

 curious. Many stems bear all the flowers at 

 the top, almost level, a new system for lilies, 

 and especially useful in garden grouping. One 

 such plant two and a half feet high carries 

 fifty-six flowers. A tall spike of golden brown 

 lilies, of L. Humboldtii type, carries ninety-one 

 flowers and is four feet high. 



"In form, size, color, fragrance, this field of 

 hybridized lily flowers is a revelation. There 

 is certainly nothing like it elsewhere in 

 America, and I do not know of any place in 

 Europe where such a collection can be found. 

 We came out of the field yellow and brown 

 from head to foot with lily pollen." 



Comparatively little had been done by any 

 one to treat lily culture in a broad manner, 

 until Mr. Burbank took it up ; — certainly no 

 one had ever attempted it upon such a gigan- 

 tic scale as this. The lily was recognized as 

 an exceedingly difficult plant upon which to 



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