September  29,  1898. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
241 
collection,  and  with  my  ideas  of  not  letting  your  hobby  run  away  with 
you,  I  am  content  with  the  pair,  Melpomene  and  album.  Henryi  has 
all  the  characters  of  the  speciosum  group,  and  may  well  be  called  the 
yellow  speciosum,  but  in  vigour  it  far  surpasses  any  of  the  others.  I 
purchased  it  in  1896,  ordering  the  cheapest  bulb.  Fortunately  for  me 
these  were  sold  out,  and  Messrs.  Jinkings  &  Co.  generously  sent  me 
the  larger  bulb.  I  potted  it,  and  it  started  very  soon,  sending  up  a 
strong  shoot  as  large  as  my  thumb.  It  grew  with  amazing  rapidity  in 
the  greenhouse,  and  I  had  some  eighteen  or  twenty  blooms.  I  took 
off  the  top  soil  and  covered  it  afresh.  This  year  it  has  been  quite 
8  feet  high,  and  had  thirty-three  blossoms,  but  at  this  height  one 
wants  steps  to  look  at  it.  It  reflexes  more  than  the  other  speciosum 
Lilies,  and  I  do  not  think  this  an  improvement,  as  it  makes  the  bloom 
appear  smaller.  Mine  is  a  deep  orange,  and  I  cannot  say  that  it 
has  any  red  spots ;  perhaps  it  is  that  I  am  not  quite  8  feet  high  and 
cannot  see  them.  So  far,  I  have  not  had  any  offshoots. 
Of  the  auratum  group,  platyphyllum  makes  its  cous:ns  look 
mean  in  comparison.  Can  there  be  anything  much  more  gorgeous 
than  a  good  plant  of  this  glorious  Lily,  the  largest  of  the  group  ?  The 
only  Lily  that  beats  it,  to  my  mind,  I  have  yet  to  mention.  I  have 
two  plots  of  platyphyllum  in  the  open  that  have  bloomed  three  years 
following.  One  of  these  this  year  has  had  deformed  blooms  (query, 
Is  this  the  beginning  of  the  end  ?  I  fear  so);  the  other  had  beautiful 
flowers,  and  formed  one  of  the  six  varieties  of  Lilium  I  exhibited  at 
the  Bath  autumn  exhibition.  Rubro-vittatum  is  glorious  only  for  a 
few  hours,  the  beautiful  red  line  down  the  midrib  of  the  petal  soon 
turning  to  a  dusky  dirty  brown ;  moreover,  I  fear  it  is  more  liable  to 
the  disease  than  the  others.  Strangely  enough,  a  friend  of  mine 
buying  a  lot  of  Liliums  got  a  bulb  of  this  before  it  came  into 
circulation. 
Liliums  canadense,  rubrum,  and  flavum  are  exquisite  little  gems, 
beautifully  spotted  ;  but  this  is  the  first  year  that  I  have  tried  them, 
and  whether  they  will  pay  me  a  visit  again  I  cannot  say.  I  hope  they 
will,  for  they  are  charming.  So  also  is  the  white  Martagon.  If  it 
talie  after  its  dusky  pink  brother  it  ought  to  increase  rapidly.  I  trust 
it  will. 
Of  the  tigrinums,  I  have  two  plants  of  splendens  that  are  beautiful 
pictures  at  the  present  time.  Each  bulb  has  thrown  up  two  stems  with 
from  ten  to  fifteen  blooms  on  each.  The  colour  with  me  is  a  pinkish 
yellow,  and  in  some  lights  they  almost  seem  transparent.  L.  t.  grandi- 
florum  is  very  much  the  same,  though  not  so  robust.  Grandifiorum 
has  a  green  stem  and  no  bulbils  in  the  axils  of  the  leaves,  while 
splendens  has  an  almost  black  stem  and  little  bulbs  most  of  the  way 
up  the  stem.  My  Maximowiczi  is  very  similar  to  these  without  stem 
bulbs.  L.  Leichtlini  is  similar,  but  much  paler  in  colour  and  has  not 
treated  me  kindly,  as  it  fails  to  stay  !  L.  pardalinum  Bourgei  is  early, 
very  striking,  with  leaves  in  whorls,  but  is  robust,  and  the  crimson 
and  yellow  flower  is  sure  to  attract  notice. 
Then  the  varieties  of  Harrisi  or  the  longiflorum  type,  all  very 
beautiful,  but  like  Hodge’s  razors,  made  or  named  to  sell.  I  have  had 
several  varieties,  but  a  fairly  good  eye  is  puzzled  over  the  difference. 
“  Too  much  alike”  applies  to  some  Lilies  as  well  as  to  Roses  — the  tube 
may  be  a  little  longer  or  shorter,  but  that  scarcely  amounts  to  a 
difference.  These  thrive  splendidly  in  Madeira,  huge  clumps  growing 
in  the  gardens,  and  having  their  own  sweet  way  revel  in  that  soil  and 
climate,  and  are  a  sight  to  dwell  on  the  memory  as  long  as  it  lasts. 
These  and  the  Crinums  were  the  only  Lily-like  flowers  I  saw  out 
there.  The  Amaryllis  and  Belladonna  Lily  later,  I  am  told,  are  sights 
also. 
In  writing  of  platyphyllum  I  mentioned  a  Lily  that  I  thought 
surpassed  it.  Everyone -will  not  agree  with  me,  but  all  who  succeed 
in  blooming  it  will  allow  that  it  is  exceedingly  handsome,  whilst  its 
perfume  is  delicious — this  is  Lilium  nepalense,  a  greenhouse  variety. 
I  shall  not  easily  forget  my  delight  on  seeing  the  first  bloom  open.  I 
had  bought  a  lot  of  unnamed  bulbs,  and  this  and  sulphureum — one 
something  of  longiflorum  type — were  amongst  them.  How  shall  I 
describe  nepalense  ?  Well,  first,  it  is  a  pendent  bell,  and  this  hanging 
form  prevents  some  of  its  beauties  being  known.  It  is  a  peculiar  pale 
greenish  yellow  in  colour  of  tube  and  points  of  the  petals,  but  the 
central  part  is  blotched  by  about  an  inch  of  very  dark  claret 
colour,  softening  off  towards  the  points  in  spots  of  the  same 
colour.  It  cannot  fail  to  arrest  the  attention  of  any  flower  lover.  I 
was  fortunate  enough  to  have  a  single  but  very  large  bloom  in  my 
stand  at  Bath,  and  several  visitors  I  heard  exclaiming,  “  Oh  !  what  is 
that  ?  ”  It  has  its  drawbacks — the  blooms  are  shy.  I  do  not  think  I 
have  ever  had  more  than  two  on  a  stem,  and  I  have  had  several  stems 
with — only  leaves !  But  I  hang  on  to  the  Lily  for  its  rare  beauty, 
and  its  fragrance — not  so  overpowering  as  some  Lilies — charm  me. 
L.  neilgherrense,  also  a  greenhouse  variety,  I  have  bloomed  this  year, 
but  though  in  tbe  bud  it  is  unlike  the  longiflorum  type,  it  is,  when 
open,  like  them  in  shape,  but  longer  in  tube,  and  a  shade  of  yellow  in 
colour.  I  do  not  think  I  shall  get  it  again  should  my  bulb  play  me 
false.  And  now,  I  fear,  good  Mr.  Editor,  you  will  say,  Bother  the 
fellow,  he  talks  of  riding  his  hobby  with  a  tight  rein,  but  this  new 
horse  of  his,  Lilium  longiscribum,  has  run  away  with  him.  Well, 
forgive ;  I  am  landed  safely. — Y.  B.  A.  Z. 
“  Forgive  !  ”  Yes,  but  cannot  grieve  over  the  failures  as  we 
ought,  for  without  them  we  should  not  have  this  article  from  “  Y’baz.”] 
Apropos  of  the  excellent  article  on  “  Lilies  in  August  ”  by  your 
esteemed  correspondent,  “D.,  Deal,"  on  page  211,  I  am  sending  you 
a  photograph,  taken  by  my  employer,  of  Lilium  auratum  var. 
platyphyllum,  which  flowered  in  the  grounds  here  last  month.  The 
height  of  the  stem  was  6  feet  C  inches  from  the  ground,  bearing  at 
its  summit  a  huge  truss  measuring  18  inches  in  length  and  the  same 
in  diameter  ;  the  number  of  blooms  was  thirty-nine,  which  measured 
from  8  to  9J  inches  across ;  it  also  increased  itself  by  an  offset  this 
season,  this  having  three  fair-sized  blooms. 
The  bulb  has  now  been  planted  about  three  years,  but  this  is  the 
first  occasion  on  which  it  has  been  really  satisfactory,  the  buds 
shrivelling  up  in  the  manner  so  much  dreaded  by  lovers  of  the 
auratum.  I  planted  last  season  more  bulbs,  and  have  tried  the 
experiment  of  packing  charcoal  around  them.  Up  to  the  present  they 
are  very  satisfactory,  but  there  is  a  winter  in  front  of  them  yet. — 
George  IIagon,  Fowley  Gardens,  Lipliook. 
[We  were  very  pleased  to  see  the  photographs  which  showed  such 
beautiful  plants,  but  unfortunately  they  were  not  suitable  for  repro¬ 
duction  in  our  columns.] 
Lilies  in  Wigtonshire. 
Mrs.  McDowall  of  Logan  House,  Wigtonshire,  has  at  present  an 
unusually  fine  specimen  of  Lilium  auratum  platyphyllum  growing  in 
a  sheltered  situation  midway  between  the  mansion  and  the  garden. 
It  is  fully  9  feet  high,  and  of  most  commanding  aspect,  bearing 
upwards  of  thirty  flowers,  each  of  them  being  nearly  12  inches  across. 
I  think  your  correspondent,  “  D.,  Deal,"  is  right  in  supposing  that  of 
all  the  auratums  this  variety  is  the  most  valuable  because  the  strongest 
growing  and  the  most  enduring.  In  my  own  garden  several  bulbs  of 
it  have  lasted  for  six  years,  and  as  yet  exhibit  no  symptoms  of 
impaired  vitality. 
The  danger  of  most  forms  is  that  of  the  excessive  multiplication 
of  offsets,  whereby  they  rapidly  degenerate  and  lose  their  strength,  so 
that  in  a  few  years  they  are  not  worthy  of  cultivation.  But 
platyphyllum  and  rubro-vittatum,  of  which  the  latter  is  very  effective, 
seem  to  be  exceptions  to  the  general  rule.  This,  at  least,  is  the  result 
of  my  own  observation  and  practical  experience.  I  greatly  fear  that 
the  beaut’ful  hybrid  between  Lilium  auratum  and  Lilium  speciosum, 
entitled  Lilium  Parkmani,  called  after  the  famous  Ameiican  historian 
and  naturalist,  no  longer  exists. — David  R.  Williamson. 
OUTDOOR  FIG  CULTURE. 
(  Continued  from  page  227. ) 
Varieties. 
The  Figs  grown  at  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society’s  Gardens  at 
Chiswick  are  said  to  number  over  150  varieties,  but  only  about  a 
dozen  are  enumerated  in  catalogues,  and  they  meet  all  requirements 
For  Standards — Trees  with  Stems  4  to  5  Feet  High. — 
Brown  Turkey : — Fruit  large  aud  pyriform,  brownish  red,  covered 
with  blue  bloom  ;  flesh  red  and  richly  flavoured.  The  tree  is  hardy 
and  sturdy  in  habit,  spreading  about  as  wide  as  it  grows  in  height — 
15  to  20  feet,  which  should  b^the  distance  allowed  between  the  trees. 
White  Marseilles: — Fruit  medium  sized  to  large,  round,  green  or  paie 
yellowish  green  when  ripe;  flesh  shining,  very  rich  and  juicy.  The 
tree  is  hardy,  but  perhaps  less  so  than  Brown  Turkey ;  free  grower, 
and  when  somewhat  aged  bears  freely. 
For  Walls. — Brown  Turkey,  the  best  Fig  for  all  purposes. 
Brunswick  : — Fruit  very  large,  pyriform,  greenish  purple  or  brownish, 
flesh  opaline  tinged  with  flesh  colour,  very  rich  and  excellent.  The 
tree  is  very  hardy  and  strong  growing,  succeeding  best  against  a  high 
wall.  White  Marseilles: — This  also  requires  plenty  of  space,  it  being 
difficult  to  restrain  it  and  Brunswick  on  walls  of  10  feet  in  height 
sufficiently  for  free  bearing.  Brown  Turkey,  however,  is  tractable  on 
walls  of  that  height  or  even  less,  only  recourse  must  be  had  to  root- 
pruning  in  case  of  over-luxuriance.  For  walls  of  10  feet  height  or 
under  and  subjecting  trees  to  restricted  border  treatment  and  root- 
pruning: — Early  Violet: — Fruit  small,  roundish,  brownish  red, 
covered  with  blue  bloom  ;  flesh  red  and  well  flavoured.  Angelique  : — 
Fruit  medium  size,  yellow,  dotted  with  greenish  specks  ;  flesh  rose 
coloured,  perfumed,  and  of  good  quality.  Black  Provence  or  Mar¬ 
seilles: — Fruit  small,  dark  brown  or  purple;  flesh  red,  juicy,  and 
richly  flavoured.  Brown  Ischia: — Fruit  medium  sized,  brown  ;  flesh 
purple,  juicy,  and  richly  flavoured.  Black  Ischia: — Fruit  medium¬ 
sized,  turbinate,  deep  purple;  flesh  deep  red,  rich,  and  luscious.  Dwarf 
Prolific  : — Fruit  medium  size,  dark  brown ;  flesh  opaline,  with  a 
syrupy  juice  and  rich  flavour.  Like  Brown  Turkey,  but  a  sturdier 
grower. 
