

aes _ some of our Aateticad. grown healthy hybrid lilies had 
os Bias: tried and shown i in neighborhood gardens and in 
flower shows, the mere fact that for each display two or 
_ three orders were placed meant that the demand 
| be stepped up so quickly and certainly it cannot be 
| __ increased with any speed, if at the same time quality 
- must be maintained. In most instances, if not in all, 
ae it was not a matter of maintaining quality, but, rather, 
- | __ of establishing and setting standards. of performance, 
cae size and uniformity that.may take us several years yet 
nts) work out. ! 

enor Por the benefit of the few customers who will read 
| these lines, I want to point out once again that today 
-|___ the new lilies are at the same stage of development at 
which daffodils were some sixty years ago. At that 
time there were emerging exCiting new varieties, such 
as for instance, King Alfred, to mention but one. From 
those early days to the time that daffodils could be 
_ turned out by the hundreds of acres, in uniform quality 
- and performance in the garden and greenhouse, there 
‘{/ ~ was a long period of experimentation, of failures and 
- successes. Only through an exchange of information 
all over the world, through trial and error, was the 
daffodil industry built. Although we, who are now 
trying to do the same thing in lilies, have learned much 
ae ie) 
from the experience with other bulbs, it cannot be 
denied that a great deal more experimentation is 
necessary. | 
Realizing this, we have cooperated with a number 
of firms, individuals and experiment stations all over 
the United States, so as to obtain data that will be of 
_use both to the home gardener and to the dealer. In 
cooperation with “Sunset Magazine” we have sent a 
large number of collections ae lilies to advanced ama- 
teur gardeners throughout California. Other collections 
have been sent to the Northern States, while in Texas 
and other Southern States we have a number of gar- 
deners that are cooperating with us. It must not, how- 
ever, be imagined that the dealer who is ordering some 
as of our lilies is venturing into the field of experimental 
= horticulture, We already know that these lilies will do 
| —~ well in most locations and under very diverse condi- 
e tions of climate and soil. We know that at least the 
supposedly tender trumpet lilies can withstand the 
“| that they can stand the dry and hot weather-of some of 
| ___ the Eastern sections of California. Other lilies, notably 
Five the E; tigrinum-umbellatum hybrids, seem to be able to 
| stand almost anything in the way of treatment and 
-/ climate. In fact, wherever the ubiquitous Tiger lily, 
or the old Candlestick lily (L. rt soa will grow, 
our new Bybee will thrive. _ 
pe te 

-_ increased in that ratio. Production, however, cannot _ 
coldest weather_our United States can offer. We know, 
Considering all these factors, it is quite obvious that 
again in 1949 we shall sell every salable bulb that our 
forty acres of lilies can produce. It may be entirely 
superfluous then to discuss sales aids or the matter of 
storage and spring delivery of our bulbs. In our 1948 
price list we devoted some space to these items and 
we merely reprint them here as these remarks are still 
pertinent and timely. For your convenience we also 
reprint the lily descriptions-sent to you during the 1948 
season. These descriptions have not been changed, 
except in minor particulars. A few new varieties or 
strains have been added to our list. Orders for these 
novelties from nurserymen and seedsmen-who visited 
our plantings during the 1948 season have already” 
taken up most of the bulbs offered. The listing here, in 
these instances, was made in order to have a printed 
record of the introduction for purposes of trade mark, 
patent right or merely to register our priority. 
Before concluding these introductory remarks, we 
wish to reiterate that we are not taking the shortage of 
good lilies into account in pricing them. We believe, 
now more than ever, that in the early years of this 
renewed interest in lilies prices must be kept at the — 
very lowest possible level, not only to assure the dealer 
a good margin of profit, but also to make the final 
price to the ultimate consumer low-enough to keep him 
satisfied. We feel that nothing coulé harm our young 
industry more than prices that were not fully commen- 
surate with the product’s performance. We should-like 
to have every consumer consider his new lilies as a 
real bargain. In a few years,production can be stepped 
up a hundred-fold, if necessary. It took only some ten 
years to bring the Croft lily from a production meas- 
ured in the hundreds to one measured in millions of 
bulbs. Some of our new lilies show a potential rate’ of 
increase that may be even more astonishing. When 
they appear in quantity on the market, we should like 
them to find a ready and warm welcome, rather than to 
be met with the false opinion that they are good but 
too expensive. f 
For us the 1949_and 1950 seasons will be the crucial 
years. It is then that we must bring our production of 
new lilies into the realm of wholesale quantities, so that 
we can correlate the economies of large scale produc- 
tion with low prices and still niaintain a fair margin of 
profit. It is also these two years that should show us 
_the final answer to many of our breeding experiments. — 
A visit to our farms during the lily- Cig eoee season, 
from the middle of June to the end of August, should 
be of absorbing interest to every gardener. We need 
not conceal that in extending a warm invitation to you 
to visit us, we are also thinking of the help that every 
visitor can a give us. The new lilies of which we have 
Pace 17. 
OREGON BULB FARMS 
GRESHAM, OREGON 

