THE REGAL LILY 15 
out of the pots and reset 6 inches apart each way in the field. The 
following fall, when the batch of seedlings was 23 to 24 months old, 
it was gratifying to see that the bulbs had attained a size of 5 to 9 
inches besides producing 4 pounds of clean seed. This is the largest 
size that has been attained in two years’ growth. The point to be 
noted particularly here is that the lily, even in the seedling stage 
before it has flowered, wants to go dormant in fall; that is, it requires 
a period of rest before normal vigorous growth will take place again. 
This has an important bearing on the methods which must be used 
in forcing it. 
It has been rather surprising to note the rapidity with which 
the lily responds at proper seasons and the degree of heat which it will 
endure. One year a batch dug from the field in late December was 
divided into three lots, which were placed in three separated green- 
house units, one at 50 and one at 60° IF. night temperatures, and the 
other at a constant temperature of 70 to 80° F. In the higher tem- 
perature the plants developed very rapidly. Only 2 out of 36 did 
not blossom, and they threw up stems with no buds. All the flowers 
in this lot opened within five days of one another, and the last 
flower was open 65 days from potting. At this time the stocks in the 
lowest temperature were not over 2 inches high, and some were just 
coming through the soil. Those in a temperature of 60° F. at might 
were intermediate. 
This test is important in that it throws further light on what 
the lly must have in order that it may come along rapidly, vigor- 
ously, and most economically under glass. The flowers at the high 
temperature, as would be expected, were “soft” but fully up to 
quality in size and coloration. A temperature of 60° F. at night, 
it has been found, produces normal flowers of good quality in about 
three months’ time, depending, of course, upon the usual factors 
of light, sunshine, watering, etc. 
Kither large or medium sized bulbs may be successfully forced. 
The larger sizes can go into 6-inch and the smaller into 4-inch pots. 
The former make the most handsome and satisfactory specimen 
plants. The latter may be matched and several plants assembled 
at fiowering time in an 8 or 10 inch pot with a little trimming to 
make a piece which can scarcely be surpassed in lily decorations. 
THE REGAL LILY IN BEDS AND BORDERS 
No discussion of the Regal lily would be considered adequate 
without some reference to its use in garden decoration. Little con- 
sideration of this phase is necessary, however, for its praises have 
been sung sufficiently from this viewpoint for the last 10 years or 
more. its ease of reproduction, its wide adaptability, and its con- 
venience of handling should make it as conspicuous around the 
American home, if the growers do their duty, as is the Madonna 
lily in the cottage gardens of the British Isles. As a garden decora- 
tion it has scarcely a peer, unless it be a well-grown specimen of the 
Goldband lily. 
The span of decorative usefulness of the flowers on Puget Sound 
is approximately three weeks in the garden, and this can often 
be prolonged to a month by employing different exposures. In the 
climate of Washington, D, C., the period of usefulness is shorter, 
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