8 BULLETIN 1459, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE ~ 
out in late winter. In the absence of manure any débris will serve 
the purpose. Indeed, when a good covering of snow is certain it is 
a good protection. Although no apparent winter injury has oc- 
curred in either of the experimental situations and the lily has been 
successfully wintered along our Canadian border, it must be ad- 
mitted that some growers have had very heavy winter losses in the 
North. ; 
The species is one of our hardiest lies. In neither the Virginia 
nor the Puget Sound region has the writer seen any injury from 
winter cold, but damage to the tops by late spring freezes has some- 
times occurred in both situations. One case has been recorded where 
a large proportion of the plants were killed outright when the stems, 
6 inches or more high, were frozen off. Occurrences of this kind 
happen occasionally. It is felt that the limiting factor in the pro- 
duction and general growing of this lily will prove to be late spring 
frosts rather than severe winter conditions, 
DIGGING 
The best way to dig the Regal, or any other lily, is by hand, for 
greater care is necessary than is possible with mechanical means. 
No better way has yet been worked out than that generally employed 
in digging Dutch bulbs. The digger, on his knees, works in the 
dug-over space with a small spade (about 24 inches over all) and 
takes out one row after another across the bed, as described fully 
in the bulletin previously mentioned.? 
Sometimes a spading fork is employed to advantage. In any 
well-developed planting of this lily the entire bed is literally filled 
with the large roots, and many of them are always sacrificed in any 
method of digging, but probably fewer with a spading fork than 
with a spade. The least injury is done with the spading fork 
operated under the plants from the dug-over space, rather than 
back of the row from the undug portion of the bed. 
STORAGE 
The grower should endeavor to keep the buibs of the Regal and 
of most other lilies out of the soil as short a time as possible. | 
Bushel lug boxes are as convenient as anything to transport them 
from the field, and the conventional tray or bulb-house shelf can 
be used for storage. The bulbs should not be exposed to either sun 
or drying winds, and drafts in the storage house should be avoided. 
If handled without bruising, the large bulbs are in little danger 
of injury even if piled 10 inches high, or if left in the bushel 
boxes for several days, unless the weather is warm, which is not 
likely in the North at the season when the bulbs are dug. In the 
South more care, of course, is necessary. 
When for any reason storage must be prolonged, the bulbs of 
the Regal or of any other lily should be covered on the trays or 
shelves with dry sand, or, if the weather is dry, they may be 
covered with dry soil in windrows in the field. The necessary 
precautions must be worked out for different localities. In a moist 
2See footnote 1. 
