206 
THE FLORISTS JOURNAL. 
What is the cause of this temperate climate, and northern vege¬ 
tation, in the very midst of a country highly tropical in all its 
characters ? It is easily told ; and the telling of it conveys a most 
useful lesson to florists as to the time and mode of applying water 
to their flowers. The break in the western mountains lets in the 
full effect of the south-western or principal monsoon upon these 
hills ; and as the rain is copious, and the temperature compara¬ 
tively low, the moisture is retained, and clouds continue to be 
formed, and to fall in showers, long after the drought has set in 
on the tropical parts of the country. Then again, before these 
showers resulting from the south-west monsoon are completely 
over, the north-east monsoon sets in, and performs the same office 
for the remaining part of the year. Thus these hills, though in 
the torrid zone, have a temperate climate and character, because 
they are supplied with water all the year round ; and, upon the 
same principle, he who will keep continually watering his flowers 
must be prepared to look for a great deterioration in the operation 
of flowering. 
ON THE CULTURE OF LILIUM. 
BY MR. P. N. DON. 
I am often surprised that this splendid tribe of plants is not gener¬ 
ally cultivated, at least cultivated with more care, and to greater 
perfection than they are at present. We never see them in beds 
like tulips, but only in patches, which can give no idea of their 
beauty. If half the attention was paid to the cultivation of lilium 
that is paid to the tulip, we might expect the most splendid 
results from crossing. Independently of crosses, the species 
alone deserve the most careful cultivation; for some of them are 
the most beautiful objects in creation. It is very strange that the 
florist, who is so fond of flowers, who cultivates the tulip, the' 
anemone, and the ranunculus, with so much care, and to such per¬ 
fection, should neglect one tribe which is of as much importance 
and susceptible of as much improvement as any of the others, 
and is also quite as much a florist’s flower. The great diversity 
in their forms, and their various seasons of flowering, must, I 
think, render them of greater value than even a tulip bed. A 
