However, if a particular gardener wishes any one of this group of 
lilies in very special form, with a maximum of height and floriferous- 
ness he should buy clean bulbs, which we offer, and plant them at some 
distance from the lilies in Group I. 
Group IV is a quite different story. This small group has in it 
the lilies we must guard. If they were not so exquisite they would not 
warrant the special attention they require. But L. auratum and L. 
japonicum are so beautiful that most gardeners feel that the extra 
effort necessary to grow them well is justified. And too, their price is 
not so high but replacement is feasible every few years. If these 
lilies are to last in the garden more than a year or two they must be 
kept at a safe distance from all lilies except those in Group II. A 
distance of 30 to 50 feet from infected plants is recommended. (This 
you will remember is as far as the carriers are apt to travel in the 
garden.) The group does especially well when planted alone against 
shrubbery. 
It is our opinion that the average gardener will find it very much 
simpler to plan his plantings in terms of getting along with mosaic 
than it will be for him to try to eliminate it altogether. Our own 
losses from mosaic are always negligible because we follow the cul- 
tural program we recommend for the gardener. But we do have some 
losses now and then and the gardener in turn should expect to have 
to make some replacements from time to time. We use every precau- 
tion to see that the bulbs that we send out are clean. We isolate by 
planting in cloth houses, since our many thousands of lilies are plant- 
ed rather close to one another; and we spray regularly with nicotine 
sulphate to control the carriers. When you order lilies from us from 
Groups II, III, and IV you may expect clean bulbs, though we have not 
felt justified in issuing a blanket guarantee that they are mosaic-free. 
That would require laboratory testing of every individual bulb before 
shipment. Most of the lilies in Group I that have had mosaic through- 
out their history, the Madonnas probably from Biblical times, are in- 
fected in our plantings. But while every dooryard Tiger and umbel- 
latum has mosaic and thrives indefinitely, we are slowly building up 
some clean stocks of these particular lilies for the handful of mosaic- 
free gardens which exist in this country. 
BASAL ROT 
Though basal rot has been recognized for many, many years it is 
still little understood even by the specialist. Fortunately it attacks 
only a limited number of lilies, and we are now learning that preven- 
tion and control are possible through disinfection and careful attention 
to good cultural practices. It is a kind of rot that starts either on the 
roots of the lily or at the basal plate and works up through the bulbs 
causing the scales to drop off and fall away. It is possible that it may 
be present in the soil in which the bulbs are planted. It is possible that 
it may be present on bulbs when they arrive from the nursery and it is 
also possible that some slight bruise or injury that occurs during pack- 
ing or mailing or handling in the garden may be responsible. As a pre- 
caution against basal rot’s developing we disinfect all bulbs before 
shipment, but this does not preclude their acquiring the disease, 
though it is a very real safeguard. 
We feel that the current habit of shipping bulbs with the roots 
intact is not helpful and may sometimes be harmful, as these roots 
rarely survive and take hold again in their new home but only tend to 
rot once they are in the soil. In some varieties that are not suscept- 
ible to basal rot the presence or absence of roots is relatively unim- 
s[iale ts 
