246 
THE LADIES' FLORAL CABINET. 
cessity. Change is the soul of Nature. In all the forms 
of life, whether vegetable or animal, there is the same 
general order of things ; that which is useful to-day will 
be useless to-morrow. Some forms are higher and more 
enduring than others, yet they all develop according to 
the same general law, running the same cycle of life- 
changes—of infancy, maturity, decay and dissolution. 
This law of change is quite as visible in the vegetable as 
in the animal form, perhaps more so. Annually v e 
are called upon to test some new fruit or vegetable, a 
new variety that is to replace an old one which has out¬ 
lived its usefulness. At the same time we are not hav¬ 
ing any better fruit or vegetables than we had forty 
years ago, persistent as our efforts have been in that 
direction, stimulated by the constantly increasing de¬ 
mand for these articles of food. Periodically new va¬ 
rieties are introduced; each, in its turn, has its rise, 
decline and fall: it passes away and is soon forgotten. 
The introduction of new varieties must ever go on, and 
the combined intelligence and industry of the scientific 
horticulturist will be taxed to the utmost to keep 
our fruits up to the high standard they have now 
reached. 
There is a limit to goodness, and when the highest point 
is reached, we can go no higher. To prevent degenera¬ 
tion is indeed a noble work. In this important field 
of industry there are many laborers. Prominent among 
them is George Seymour, Esq., of So. Norwalk, Conn., 
whose latest contribution to our list of small fruits is 
the strawberry called “The Henderson,” named in 
honor of Peter Henderson, Esq., in whose hands it is 
placed for distribution, and by that house it is now 
being offered for the first time for sale. 
Our attention was called to this berry at the New 
York Horticultural Society’s show, last season, where it 
was greatly admired for its beautiful appearance. Its 
delicious flavor and aroma, together with its great size, 
made it an object of special attention. The fruit is of 
the largest size, is very early and immensely productive, 
but the greatest point in its favor is its exquisite flavor. 
Size, form, color, flavor and productiveness, are the es¬ 
sential points for a perfect fruit; this has the combina¬ 
tion in a marked degree. Whether for family or mark et 
use, the ‘ ‘ Henderson ” is certain to become a standard 
sort, and its strong and healthy growth will adapt it to 
almost every soil. It is what is known as a perfect- 
flowered variety, and, therefore, will never fail to pro¬ 
duce a crop. 
OUR NATIVE LILIES. 
OTWITHSTANDING the fact 
that we cannot boast of a 
native auratum, with its 
wonderful size and fragrance, 
neither have we the gaudy 
elegans and buTbiferum with 
their host of varieties, nor 
the brilliant chalcedonicum or 
tenuifolium, we can have all 
these and then increase the 
value of our collection by 
the addition of our North American Lilies; for we have 
forms equally desirable in color, fragrance and distinc¬ 
tion, and we may look forward with reasonable cer¬ 
tainty to an improvement in our list of valuable varie¬ 
ties, as is attested by the number of natural variations 
found. It is to be hoped some cultivator will take 
them in hand and devote to them his patience and 
skill. The experience of many has shown that the 
Lily is rather intractable for the hybridizer, yet there 
has been produced here in our own country Lilium 
Parkmanii, the finest hybrid Lily ever seen. 
Lilies are strictly confined in their geographical range 
to the north temperate zone; and North America is 
very fully represented, having fourteen species out of 
the fifty that have been discovered in the world. Its 
representatives are quite distinct in flowers and habit 
of growth, and in the bulbs, which form an important 
distinction among Lilies. Those Lilies having bulbs 
with loose, rounded or jointed scales, that throw out 
thick stems or rhizomes from the base, on the ends of 
which new bulbs are formed, are found only on this 
continent, and they are represented by Lilium super- 
bum, Canadense, pardalinum, and parvum. Those 
Lilies with an oblique bulb, on which the scales grow 
obliquely from a long base, are confined to the Western 
coast of our continent, and are represented by Liliums 
Humboldti and Columbianum. We have also the 
pointed bulbs, with thin, close scales, represented by 
Liliums Philadelphicum and Catesbcei. 
The most widely distributed of our native Lilies is 
the Wild Orange-red Lily, L. Philadelphicum, extend¬ 
ing West to the Saskatchewan and Colorado, and South 
to Georgia; this, and L. Canadense, are the only 
Lilies that extend inland to a great distance, as most 
of our Lilies are confined to States near the Atlantic 
and Pacific coasts. 
The Wild Orange-red Lily has from one to four cup¬ 
shaped, upright, bright, reddish orange blossoms, 
spotted with brown; the flowers being from two and 
one-half to three inches long, terminating in a stem two 
to three feet high, with narrow, light-green leaves, 
chiefly in whorls. It is a bright and showy Lily, but 
rather difficult to grow successfully. Its native soil is 
a dry, sandy loam. It is found among low bushes and 
grass, in old pastures and along stone walls. It fre¬ 
quently springs up in great abundance on land that has 
been recently cleared from a hard-wood growth, and 
burned over, and on which a new growth of shrubs 
and sprouts is springing up, and it brightens up these 
spots wonderfully. 
It must have a light, well-drained soil, without peat, 
and, like all Lilies, should have the top of the soil 
shaded from the sun, by a thick mulching of leaves or 
low shrubbery. It frequently lasts only a few years in 
any soil, but the bulbs may be collected from the fields, 
or it may be propagated more easily than most Lilies 
from seed. A very small bulb will flower, and it fre- 
