16 BULLETIN 1331, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
The lily is well adapted to the sunny border. Like most lilies it 
thrives better when its feet are shaded, but its shade should not be 
dense or high. The plant can not compete with the roots of trees 
and shrubs. 
Having obviated these difficulties and selected a place otherwise 
suitable, good results can be expected from these lilies for years with- 
out disturbing them, though it will give better results if they are 
disturbed once every three or four years, for under conditions of 
good fertility the bulbs soon become crowded, with a consequent 
dwarfing of the individuals. 
GARDEN ASSOCIATIONS 
In the ornamental garden as well as under field conditions the 
Madonna lily needs to be in full sun. Unless the plants are scattered 
more than massing effect warrants, there is very little that can be 
_grown between them, for they occupy the ground quite fully and 
when properly spaced cover it entirely with their basal leaves after 
September if the plants are thrifty. 
Of course, the lily may be spaced or grown in clumps where bed- 
ding plants which blossom early can be grown between. It is ex- 
ceedingly effective in front of banks of shrubbery but sufficiently 
removed not to be influenced by root competition. When grown 
close to shrubs it is well to cut off the shrub roots once a year in order 
to protect the lihes from deleterious competition. 
PRESENT CONSUMPTION 
Tt is rather remarkable that a florist item of such recognized and 
acknowledged quality should have been supplanted so decidedly in 
the past 40 years. For this condition there are two main reasons: 
The modern Easter lily (Liliwm longifiorum) has assumed ascendency 
because its price has become more advantageous, and its supplies more 
dependable. Aside from its intrinsic merit the bulbs of LZ. longi- 
florum are cheaper, and other merchandising advantages are in its 
favor. It is equally remarkable that in spite of these facts the 
demand for bulbs of the Madonna lily in this country still continues 
and is now greater than the present foreign supply. Our imports in 
1922 were somewhat more than 600,000 bulbs, used in largest measure 
for outside plantings. 
The Madonna lily is admirably adapted for forcing, for use as 
cut flowers from the field, and for a great variety of decorations in 
the garden, for which it is more extensively employed at the present 
time than any other lily. The demand for these purposes now is 
nearly three-quarters of a million. The indications are that more 
would be used if the supply was greater and more dependable. It is 
also probable that a more satisfactory supply would in a measure 
revive the use of this lily for forcing, for it is as suitable for altar 
and similar decorations as the modern substitute. Single large well- 
grown specimens are especially decorative, and an assemblage of 
four or five plants in 10-inch pots is attractive in any situation. As 
a cut flower this lily has no superior, and cutting it does not interfere 
with its bulbs or its propagation. | 
