CONTALLARIA. 63 



fume. The woods about Hanover, as well as in other 

 parts of Germany, are regularly yisited on Whit Monday 

 by numerous parties from the cities, who go to gather 

 these May-flowers {MaiUumen), and the forest, on that 

 day, is a scene of festivity and mirth. From the earliest 

 dawn to the closing of the day the roads leading to the 

 forests are thronged by persons of all ages, and nearly 

 every house is furnished with the Whitsuntide bouquet 

 of Lilies of the Valley. An apparently identical species 

 is found in our country, on the higher Alleghanies to 

 the Southward. 



Although not a bulb, its position, commercially, 

 entitles it to the same place in this book that it occupies 

 with the florist and seedsman in their business, which 

 is an important one. The value of the Lily of the Valley 

 pips used for forcing, by the florists, is more than 

 double of that of any one kind of bulb. There are a num- 

 ber of florists in this country, each of whom force half a 

 million pips annually. So systematic has become the 

 method of forcing, that the flowers can be obtained 

 every week in the year from our leading florists. For 

 this purpose a supply is constantly kept in cold storage, 

 at a temperature just above freezing point, and brought 

 forward in lots of from 5,000 to 50,000, as the market 

 demands. The supply is wholly from Germany, and 

 there are two varieties, or, rather, trade sorts. One is 

 known as Hamburg, the other, Berlin pips, the differ- 

 ence between the two being considerable. The Ham- 

 burg pips are larger, and later in coming into flower. 

 The Berlin pips are much sought because of earliness, 

 the size of the pips making no difference in the length 

 of the spike, or the number of bells on the same. 



The difference between the two classes arises from 

 the conditions of soil and locality only. Hamburg pips 

 are grown near Berlin, and Berlin pips near Hamburg. 

 From any dealer in either city both varieties can be 



