Miss Preston is a Member of The Lily Committee of The Ameri- 
can Horticultural Society and a corresponding Member of the Mass- 
achusetts Horticultural Society and of the Lily Committee of The 
Royal Horticultural Society. 
Her book, “Garden Lilies”, was published by the Orange Judd 
Company, New York, in 1929, and a number of Candaian Government 
bulletins bear her name, as well as articles in Canadian, English and 
American magazines. 
Four members of the Stenographer Series and others of her re- 
cent lily hybrids are described in this catalogue under the heading 
“Preston Hybrids”. Gardeners who have grown them know their great 
charm and value. 
AVA 
GEORGE L. SLATE, like Miss Preston, is a horticulturist with 
wide interests, but there is probably no name better known in the 
American lily world at the present time. He was born and raised on 
a farm in Bernardston, Massachusetts. In 1921 he received his B. Sc. 
from Massachusetts State College and in 1926 his M. Sc. from 
Harvard. He has been a member of the New York State Department 
of Agriculture, Department of Pomology since 1922 and is now As- 
sociate Professor. His principal activity has been the breeding of small 
fruits and several of his named varieties have become well-known and 
are extensively planted. 
While his work with lilies is not his primary occupation, he has 
given them some of his best time and thinking. His first lilies were 
planted in 1929 and his first cross made the following year. He has 
continued an extensive breeding program ever since, in fact, his chief 
interest in lilies is in breeding them. He is working with most sec- 
tions of the genus rather than specializing with one group and has a 
large and varied number of hybrids under observation in his plantings. 
Lilium Seneca, introduced in 1948, is the first of his lily hybrids to be 
offered to gardeners. 
Mr. Slate’s authoritative book, “Lilies for American Gardens”, was 
published by Scribner’s in 1939. He has written extensively, contribut- 
ing one article to the series of Lily Year-Books published by The Royal 
Horticultural Society and a number of articles on lilies, fruits and 
nuts to various horticultural periodicals. In addition he is chairman 
of the Editorial Committee of The Lily Committee of The American | 
Horticultural Society and has edited the last two Year Books pub- 
lished by the Committee. He has been Secretary of the Northern Nut 
Growers Association since 1933 and is a member of the Committee on 
Nomenclature of the American Pomological Association. 
As an item of personal interest it should be mentioned that Mr. 
Slate’s wife, the former Muriel Primrose Wilson, is the daughter of 
the famous plant explorer, the late Ernest H. Wilson. 
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