LILIUM LANCIFOLIUM. 
LILIES. 
The Lily is loved in every land. It is the queen of flowers, and only the Rose can dispute 
its regal honors. We find it in the humid vale, the arid desert, and on the lofty mountain top. 
With few exceptions. Lilies succeed in our gardens admirably, are subject to no diseases, and 
continue to increase in strength and beauty for many years. From six to a dozen of the best 
varieties will give a good collection, better far than is seen even in most of our best gardens. 
The past twenty years has added to our garden Lilies the best we now possess, such as Land- 
folium, of several varieties, Auratum, Wash- 
ingtonianum, Bloomerianum, &c. Some of the 
newer varieties have been, affected with a strange 
disease, or perhaps did not take kindly to our 
climate and soil, or may have been seriously 
injured by a long journey. Whatever may have 
been the cause, the Auratum certainly was not 
reliable for a number of years 
after its introduction. Some, hav- 
ing every appearance of sound- 
ness, when planted would make 
a vigorous start, and then, with 
out apparent cause, perhaps as 
the buds were about to open, 
show signs of disease, the leaves 
drooping, and an examination 
showing a decaying bulb. Oth- 
ers would flower beautifully the 
first season, and decay the sec- 
ond or even the third. We 
have lost thousands of Auratum bulbs in this way. We have now mature, good sized bulbs, 
raised in our grounds — beds of many thousands, with the foliage very much improved, and very 
little, if any, sign of disease. The Auratum is so grand that we must have it, though we occa- 
sionally lose a bulb or two; and as we now grow them with every appearance of sound- 
ness, the difficulty, whatever its cause, we hope is entirely overcome. 
The California Lilies we have not before dared to describe, although we have cultivated them 
several years, because sometimes we have received several species under one name, and at other 
times, what seemed to be one variety, with a good many more names than it was entitled to. 
Our management, also, seemed to be defective, so we visited California to see the Lilies and 
consult with her most conscientious florists and most experienced botanists. We think we now 
understand the characteristics of the California Lilies, and their habits, so that we can describe 
them understandingly ; but the most important lesson we learned was the necessity of deep plant- 
ing. We are quite certain we dug Lily bulbs in California fully eighteen inches below the sur- 
face, and are satisfied that much of our losses 
with the Auratum and the Pacific Lilies was 
the result of shallow planting, though we are 
well aware that this was not the entire cause. 
We would advise all who plant the Auratum, 
or any of the California Lilies, to set them 
deep. Indeed, all Lilies require deep planting. 
The collection of Lilies is now so large 
and so good that no lover of flowers can 
afford to ignore this interesting and elegant 
family, and no garden can be considered 
complete without a good collection. We 
will describe a few of the best. 
Liliu7n lancifolium. Among the many truly valuable flowers that have been introduced into 
this country and Europe from Japan and Chma, during the past twenty years, we know of 
118 
LILIUM CHALCEDONICUM. 
