74 
THE FLORIST. 
“ Singleton Perpetual Fig,” of which Mr. Thompson, of the Hor¬ 
ticultural Society, says—“ Fruit small, round, with a cylindrical green 
stalk of medium thickness; skin green and very thin ; pulp rose or 
salmon coloured, exceedingly rich and sugary, a most excellent variety, 
and highly deserving cultivation.” To this add : 
Brown or Purple coloured 
Ischia, both brown and black 
Italian, or Murrey 
Brunswick 
Malta 
Turkey 
White or Yellow 
Marseilles 
Genoa 
Thomas W. Abbott. 
LILIUM LANCIFOLIUM. 
This exceedingly beautiful Lilium must, I am sure, have a very high 
standing in the estimation of all lovers of flowers, for on entering a 
conservatory or any other floral erection, where one is situated, you 
are immediately attracted towards it, not only by its showy blossoms, 
but by the inhalation of the rich and refreshing fragrance which it throws 
out in great profusion ; and how many of my readers are there who have 
not been tempted to approach it so near that they have been somewhat 
horrified to find themselves marked with its peculiar pollen, as though 
it would hint to them the moral of “ Beware of temptation.” 
But it is very rarely to be seen in such vigorous beauty as proper 
cultivation will bring it to. What is the cause ? Is it that some 
amateurs and gardeners do not consider it worthy of such attention as 
it requires to bring it to any sort of perfection, or is it that they do not 
adopt the proper system for its cultivation ? If it is the first cause, 
I will ask them to follow out the system which I shall recommend, and 
then I feel assured that it will soon raise itself to its proper standing in 
their estimation. If it is the latter, I will endeavour to explain to 
them, as clearly as I possibly can, if not the proper system for its 
cultivation, the system upon which I have grown them in great 
perfection. 
The generality of them you will find potted with their bulbs just 
peeping above the surface of the soil, or, otherwise, immediately 
underneath it, and they throw up little dwindling stems not larger 
than the tube of a common tobacco-pipe, from bulbs that ought to 
throw up stout vigorous stems as large as the bowl of one; and instead 
of the bulb increasing in size yearly it decreases, until it is unable to 
throw up a flowering stem at all, for the roots that are thrown out from 
underneath the bulb, and ought to have nothing more to do than to 
support and strengthen the bulb, have to support the plant altogether. 
I think all that are in any way acquainted with the habits of the Lilium 
lancifolium are aware, that when it has thrown up its stem to about 12 
or 18 inches in height it begins to throw out stout fibres, in whorls or 
batches round the stem, for four or five inches up, but in the usual 
