462 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ November 22, 189 1 . 
are chosen, as travelling expenses are less. The plan has answered 
and has failed ; in the latter case cheapness having been bought 
too dearly. Comparatively new judges, especially if of nervous 
temperament, are much more comfortable if they have an old hand 
and cool head to assist them, alliances of that nature usually 
answering very well, the steadying element being advantageous. 
As disappointments are plentiful at the present time, and as the 
majority of them have arisen through the verdicts at shows, not 
necessarily wrong verdicts, and as the subject is uppermost in the 
minds of a large body of persons interested in exhibitions, these 
remarks may not, perchance, be entirely unseasonable. 
ON LILY CULTURE. 
“ M. M.,” page 424 of your Journal, complains that as regards 
his experience in the culture of L. auratum, some were potted, for 
conservatory decoration five or six years ago, others were planted 
out in the bed of a greenhouse, others planted in various parts in 
the open ground, and in almost every instance the bulbs have 
degenerated. I fear that this is a common experience. Our 
knowledge of the conditions necessary to the good growth of 
Lilies is yet but in its infancy. I have grown Lilies by hundreds, 
perhaps thousands, every year for the last eighteen years, and it is 
only by accident that I now know how L. auratum can be grown. 
I am speaking solely of out-of-door culture ; but if that which is 
the hardest can be attained, then the culture, which is the easier 
under glass, may be made more simple. I think in the first place 
that growers in general do not recognise the requirements of 
Lilies, which are, A, to flower and bloom well in the current year ; 
B, t® make new growth and a good sound bulb for the future 
season’s flowering. Unless the second condition is attained then 
you have a weak growth next season with either a poor flower or 
none at all—degeneration as “ M. M.” observes ; and I much fear 
that in planting Lily bulbs the conditions necessary for B are not 
generally recognised and considered. I will endeavour to explain 
what my experience on this head has taught me. 
1, Very few Lilies like scorching sunshine ; they prefer a 
partial shade to protect their roots but to rear their flower heads 
into sunshine, while the lower leaves and roots are concealed by 
surrounding herbage. This is the natural wild condition of many 
Lilies. Therefore an eastern or western aspect is preferable to a 
southern one. 
2, Lilies like moisture at their roots, and this, as a rule, is 
sparingly given. Out of the eighteen years in which I have grown 
Lilies, this season and one other very rainy season about twelve 
years ago were the very best I have known for Lily growth. The 
bulbs turned up at the end of the season large, firm, and with 
splendid new growths. The ground this year in which I have seen 
auratum, eximium, Wallacei, and Martagon growing splendidly is 
a heavy loamy soil completely saturated and water-logged all the 
summer—the last place one would choose for growing Lilies ; yet 
in that stiff saturated soil—situate it is true on the slope of a slight 
hill, and with a gravel bid 3 feet underneath, through which the 
water flows—small offsets the size of nuts, and Walnuts, planted 
two years back, have been taken up this year hard sound bulbs as 
big as a small Orange, and larger bulbs planted one, two, or three 
years back in equally good condition, only larger in size. I believe 
water does not hurt Lilies growing out of doors, though supplied 
in any quantity, but is beneficial. Such at least is my experience. 
3, Deep planting should be practised. These auratum bulbs are 
planted from 12 to 15 inches deep, so that except in very dry seasons 
their roots can always revel in moisture. Before I tried (by acci¬ 
dent) this most unlikely soil I lost hundreds of auratum yearly by 
sunstroke, and I found on examination the base of the bulb gene¬ 
rally rotten, and nothing but stem roots alive. Under such circum¬ 
stances no fresh bulb growth could be made, and a hot sun scorched 
the inadequately nourished foliage. 
4, It must be remembered that imported bulbs bring with them 
fungus germs, which in past times used to destroy case after case 
of shipped bulbs. This was partially put a stop to by packing each 
bulb in mud, then hermetically sealing them. I believe I was the 
first to suggest this plan. In this way, now that the bulbs are 
more carefully grown and brought to the port to be packed, they 
come over in much better order ; yet out of these a certain per¬ 
centage contains these deadly germs, which develope during the 
spring and destroy the inside growth with the power of reproduc¬ 
tion, hence every grower must expect a certain per-centage of 
deaths. This generally takes place in June, when warm sunshine 
proves too much for the plants. Summary.—My experience, there¬ 
fore, teaches me that, as a rule, Lilies should be planted deep in a 
cool sheltered aspect where they can get sunshine for a part of the 
day on their flowers in rich, clayey, or loamy soil (I prefer these to 
peaty soils) well supplied beneath with moisture. I should not 
hesitate in planting auratum bulb3 in a ditch or at the edge of a. 
rivulet, and I find that the longiflorum, speciosum, and Martagon 
tribe do equally well in these soils, and that the Thunbergianum 
section grow into large weighty bulbs. 
Locality.—It must be stated that these observations on culture- 
apply to Essex only, where the rainfall is scanty, often only 
20 inches in the year, and where the sun is often very scorching ;; 
but as I have corresponded with residents in many parts of our 
island on Lily culture I find that Lilies are grown best generally in 
Scotland and on the western coasts of England rather than in the 
central and southern. This, again, strengthens my position that 
moisture and cool air and a cool moist soil are indispensable to Lily 
culture. In fact, I may say that where Iris Koempferi hortensis 
grows well there w'ill also L. auratum thrive planted between the 
clumps of Iris. If “M. M.,” and others like him, will try again in 
the direction indicated by these remarks they will, I think, be able 
to recite a different experience.— Alexander Wallace (Author 
of 11 No'x-s on Lilies and their Culture ”). 
ALNWICK SEEDLING AND GROS MAROC 
GRAPES. 
The dull sunless season that we have had has been the means 
of showing the former of these two black Grapes to the best 
advantage. At the exhibitions we have seen it repeatedly in 
splendid form, realising the most sanguine expectations as to its 
merits. Its colour—when colour has been conspicuous for its 
absence generally—has been all that could be desired, and its com¬ 
bination of good qualities renders it one of the best black Grapes 
in cultivation. 
The latter of the above seems also to be slowly but surely 
growing in popular favour, and deservedly so. As a late black it 
will compete with any variety known Its flavour, however, is 
much better from Christmas onwards, say to the end of April, 
than it is prior to the time named, unless it be worked on another 
stock, either the Muscat of Alexandria or Black Hamburgh. Even 
on its own roots its flavour during the early season is better than 
some other sorts which are more largely grown ; for instance, Gros- 
Colman, “ which, by the way, is also much improved by being 
worked upon the stocks above mentioned.” 
Mention was made of both the above Grapes in a notice of 
Nannau Park in these columns last season. It was my pleasure 
to see them again recently, and I find that Mr. Cooke is extending 
their culture. A Yine grown on the extension of Alnwick Seedling 
was carrying from fifty to sixty bunches of capital size, and black 
as sloes. Gros Maroc was also in splendid condition ; abundance 
of well-formed bunches, and equally well coloured. Those who 
intend planting new Yines this season will do well to try both, is 
the opinion of— Bradwen. 
CYCNOCHE3 CHLOROCHILOK. 
A short time since several exhibitors brought this peculiar 
Orchid before the Floral Committee of the Royal Horticultural 
Society, and it attracted much attention by reason of the singular 
form of the flowers and their strange colouring. It is not a 
novelty, but is one of the old varieties which has been almost lost 
sight of for a number of years, and has been rescued, as it were, 
from its obscurity by some who can appreciate the remarkable 
floral structure of Orchids in others besides those simply fitted for 
decorative purposes. The genus Cycnoches is a peculiar one 
altogether, and comprises some interesting examples of the 
phenomenon of dimorphism in the flowers, one of which— 
Cycnoches Warscewiczi—has been described and figured in this 
Journal. C. chlorochilon is a native of Demerara, whence it was 
obtained in 1838 by Messrs. Loddiges of Hackney, and for some 
years after it became known to cultivators it was a favourite at 
shows and elsewhere. Mr. B. S. Williams says, “We used 
formerly to exhibit fine specimens of these plants at the Horticul¬ 
tural Society’s Shows at Chiswick, and also at those held in the 
Regent’s Park Botanic Gardens, and they were greatly admired on 
account of their grotesque formation and their conspicuous 
flowers.” C. chlorochilon has stout conical pseudo-bulbs bearing 
