303 



which come out in the "struggle for existence." After 

 they are developed, then circumstances either favor 

 or obstruct their preservation. This is a mere hypo- 

 thesis, but one which seems wan anted by the facts 

 we have adduced. 



II 



LILIES. 



Most of us can remember when the beautiful Ja- 

 pan Lilies were regarded as greenhouse plants, and 

 fully as tender as the tuberose. A great step gained 

 was the knowledge of their entire hardiness — and 

 for the persistent keeping of this fact before the 

 public, our lovers of Lilies are mainly indebted to 

 Hovey & Co., of Cambridge, Massachusetts, who 

 are to be regarded as the pioneers of out door Lily 

 culture and improvement in the United States. 

 Still the prices ruled high untW a few years ago the 

 Brills' of New Jersey undertook their propagation 

 on a large scale, by breaking to pieces the scaly 

 bulbs ; and since then the prices have fallen from $2 

 or $5 to about 50 cents, and now no boy can be more 

 urgent for " stamps," than the Florist is for varie- 

 ties of the Lily family. 



It is singular how the notion ever prevailed that 

 any of the Lily family should be tender, for they 

 are confined to the cold and temperate parts of the 

 world — none of them entering the tropics. The 

 Lilium Caroliniana scarcely, if it all goes beyond the 

 tropical line in America ; while in Asia the Lihum 

 giganteum exist in just about the same line of lati- 

 tude as the Carolina Lily in ours. 



The L. giganteum is, we believe, still regarded 

 as tender by Horticulturists, but a trial might find it 

 as hardy as L. CaroHnianum. 



A few years ago we had scarcely a dozen kinds 

 of Lilies in cultivation, but the ease with which they 

 can be hybridized — their tendency to vary from 

 seed independent of hybridization — and the many 

 new introductions to gardens from their native places 

 of growth, have made them numerous ; and the in- 

 creasing taste for them, will soon make them as 

 plenty as Gladioluses. The distinction between one 

 species and another, is already broken down, and 

 the whole genus has become beautifully mixed up. 

 For the purpose of the cultivator they can be divided 

 into three classes. Those with pendulous flowers 

 reflexed petals ot which the Lilium Colchicnm 

 (Fig. 1,) may be taken as a type ; Trumpet shaped 

 as in L. Jongiflorum, (Fig. 3,) and cup-shaped as in 

 L. croceuMj (Fig. 2.) In this variety of form they 

 have a great adv?ntage over the gladiolus, which 

 has but the single point of color to favor, while be- 

 sides the variety of form the fragrance and beauty 

 of the Lily, will always give it superiority. 



The Lily likes a rich warm garden soil — one that 

 is never absolutely wet, and which on the other hand 

 will never dry out in the hottest weather. They 

 love to be replanted every year, and this should be 

 done immediately after the flower stems die in the 

 autumn. They then commence to push out new 

 fibres for another year, and require all the time pos- 

 sible between their ceasing to bloom and the next 

 year's season to prepare for a strong flowering con- 

 dition. Some think it essential to take them up 

 and dry them awhile before replanting, but this if 

 not a positive injury is at any rate unnecessary. 



Our five American Lilies, {Canadense, Svper- 

 hum, Philadelphium, Catesbcei and Carolineanum, 

 vary just as much as the foreign ones; and if care 

 be taken in making selections, a fine collection could 

 soon be made. Examining a meadow full of L. 

 Canadense, near West Chester last summer, no two 

 of the plants we found had flowers marked exactly 

 alike. And in two roots, taken at random from a 

 wood of L. Snperhnm last year, and flowering this 

 year in our garden, we found that while one had 

 blooms of a rich crimson, the color of the other was 

 a yellowish brown. 



As a guide to the cultivator, we have been look- 

 ing about for the most complete list of varieties or 

 species already in cultivation. In American cata- 

 logues, the lists are so variable, if one has a dozen 

 and another a dozen, they seem to be nea.ly differ- 

 ent. The best European one we have seen is, that 

 of Ilaage & Schmidt, at Erfurt, and as .they have 

 correspondents we believe in the United States, no 

 doubt they can be mostly had of any of our leading 

 seedsmen who deal in bulbs, if ordered in advance. 



The following is their list : — 

 auratum, 

 Brownii, 

 bulbiferum, 



" aurantiacum praecox, 

 " splendidum, 

 ^ umbellatum, 

 Buschianum, 

 camschatcense, 

 canadense, 



" luteum, 

 candidum, 



fl. pleno, 

 " fol. argent, var., 



fl. pleno, 



" " aureisvar., 

 " maculatum, (striatum), 

 " speciosum, 

 Carolineanum, 



1 



