Aristocrats of the garden

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

N I. The Story of the Modern Rose . . . 3

II. "Consider the Lilies" 19

Chapter I The Story Of The Modern Rose This Universal Favorite Coming Out Of The East

IS THE PRODUCT OF BUT A FEW SPECIES — LATENT

POSSIBILITIES YET BEFORE THE ROSE LOVER

THE establishing of a trading factory at Canton, in southern China, by the EngUsh East India Company toward the close of the seventeenth century, would appear to have very little — if, indeed, anything — to do with the development of modern horticulture in general and the Rose in particular. But as a matter of fact it has had a great deal to do with both, and garden lovers generally (though they may not know it) owe a big debt to the directors and officers of that grand old Company. The Company met with great opposition from the Chinese and others and it was a century before it fully established itself in China. Nevertheless, in the earliest days of its career there, an officer of the Company sent to England some dried plants, among them two Roses, known nowadays botanically as Rosa multijlora var. cathayensis and R. laevigata, and these were mentioned by Plukenet in his Almagestum in 1696. Toward the end of the eighteenth century, despite the Napoleonic wars and the fact that each vessel was armed and often had to do battle against foes, the captains of the East- Indiamen, as the Company's ships were called, used to carry home plants which they, or the factory officials at Canton, found growing in the gardens of the Chinese.

These plants found their way into the gardens of the Company's directors and their friends and from hence into the Royal Gardens, Kew, and elsewhere. To these agencies we owe our earliest varieties of Chrysanthemums, Camellias, Moutan Peonies, China Primrose, China Azaleas, and, what here concerns us chiefly, the first plants of the China Monthly, Tea, and Rambler Roses — parents of the modern Rose.

Early in the eighteenth century India received through the same source many plants including these and other Roses. It is important to remember this since one of these, the China Monthly Rose {Rosa chinensis), was afterward erroneously considered to be native of India and became generally known as the Bengal Rose. This Rose and its var. semperflorens were introduced by the French into the Isle of

Bourbon, doubtless from India, during the eighteenth century.

The Bengal Rose was known to Gronovius in 1704, and came into cultivation in Haarlem in 1781, having probably been introduced by Dutch East-Indiamen. But, preoccupied with their Tulips and other bulbous plants the Dutch have done little toward developing the modern Rose. In 1789, Sir Joseph Banks introduced it into England and, chronologically, our story here begins.

In 1789, the Crimson China Monthly {Rosa chinensisy var. semperflorens) , through the captain of an English East-Indiaman, came into the possession of Gilbert Slater, Esq. In 1804, Thomas Evans sent from China to England through the same agency the first Rambler Rose {Rosa multiflora, var. carnea). In 1809, Sir Abraham Hume received from China through a similar agency the first Tea-scented Rose, which had double pink flowers and was christened Rosa odorata. And, to complete the independent activities of the English East India Company, between 1815 and 1817 Charles Francis Greville, Esq., received from China a Rambler Rose {Rosa multiflora, var. platyphylla) which enjoyed lastingpopularity under the name of Seven Sisters and by which name it will be remembered by many readers of these pages.

Meanwhile, in 1792, Lord Macartney brought back with him from China a Rose {R. bradeata) which was styled the Macartney Rose and which is now naturalized in some of our warmer states.

Another Chinese Rose — the Cherokee Rose — the date of whose introduction into this country is unknown, is also naturalized widely in the warmer states and received its earhest name (R. laevigata) in 1803, from Michaux who firmly believed it to be native of this country.

In 1796, Rosa rugosa, native of Japan, Korea, and extreme northeastern Asia, was introduced into England by Messrs. Lee and Kennedy.

These new and amazing plants from China quickly attracted the attention of patrons of horticulture in England and men were despatched to China expressly to send home all the novelties they could find ; and, intermittently, from the commencement of the nineteenth century down to the present day, ardent collectors have been busily employed, but this wonderfully rich country is not yet exhausted of its floral treasures! One of the first of these collectors — William Kerr — sent home in 1807 the double white-flowered Banksian Rose (Rosa Banksiae). In 1824, John Damper Parks sent home the double yellow-flowered Banksian Rose {R. Banksiae, var. luted) and a semi-double yellowish Tea Rose (R. odorata, var. ochroleuca) . In 1825, the Small-leaved Rose {R. Roxburghii, better known as R. microphylla) with double reddish flowers blossomed for the first time in Messrs. Colville's Nursery in London.

We have already mentioned that China Roses were introduced into India in the eighteenth century and that some of them toward the end of that century were introduced into the French Isle of Bourbon, south of the equator, where we learn they thrived amazingly and produced new forms.

From Mauritius in 1810, Sweet introduced into England the Fairy Rose (R. chinensis, var. minima) ; this I consider to be merely a variant of var. semperflorens, the Crimson Monthly Rose. About 1819, from the Isle of Bourbon, the Rose Edward reached France, and, crossed with the French Rose {R. gallica), gave rise to the Hybrid Bourbon Roses. This Rose Edward is of much interest; long ago it was cultivated in Calcutta and it is obviously a Hybrid China. The specimen I have seen strongly suggests R. chinensis X R' centifolia as its parentage.

The China Monthly Rose {R. chinensis) crossed with the French Rose (R. gallica) gave rise to the Hybrid China Roses. The Hybrid China and the Hybrid Bourbon crossed with the Damask Rose {R.

damascena) gave rise to the Hybrid Perpetual or Remontant Roses. The Hybrid Perpetual crossed with the Tea Rose {R. odorata) gave rise to the Hybrid Tea Roses which to-day are the dominant class of Roses. Lastly, Rosa chinensis crossed with the Musk Rose {R. moschata) gave rise to the Noisette Roses, a beautiful class which, unfortunately, has gone out of favor.

But to return to the collectors: In 1846, Robert Fortune sent from China to England the yellow-buff Fortune Rose (R. odorata, var. pseudoindica), a Tea-scented Rose rather similar to the var. ochroleuca and widely known under the name "Beauty of Glazenwood." In 1850, he sent home from China a Rose with relatively large double white flowers supposed to be a cross between the Banksian and Cherokee Roses and which was named Rosa Fortuneana. In 1886, the Wichuraiana Rose {R. Luciae) was introduced into Brussels from Japan. In 1878, Prof. R. Smith sent from Japan to a Mr. Jenner in England a Rose which the recipient named The Engineer in compliment to the profession of its donor. In course of time this Rose came into possession of a nurseryman named Gilbert who exhibited some cut flowers of it under the above name in 1890, and received an Award of Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society. Soon afterward Messrs. Chas. Turner, of Slough, purchased the stock and changed the name to Crimson Rambler. This Rose is generally assumed to be a hybrid between Rosa multiflora and some China Monthly Rose, but to me this view is untenable. I do not think it has any China Monthly blood in it at all. It has long been cultivated in China and I consider that, like the Seven Sisters Rose, it is a sport from the common, wild pink-flowered China Rambler (7?. multiflora, var. cathayensis) . These various Chinese Roses were introduced from Chinese gardens where they have been cultivated from time immemorial and their wild prototypes were not discovered, much less introduced, until comparatively recently.

The true Rambler Rose (R. multiflora) is a native of Japan and has single white flowers in large panicles. This was sent to Lyons, France, from Japan in 1862, by Monsieur Coignet, an engineer. The pink-flowered Chinese variety has only just been dignified by a distinctive name. In 1888, General CoUett discovered, in the Shan Hills of Upper Burmah, a Rose with white, pale yellow, or buff flowers six inches across and this was named Rosa gigantea. He introduced it into Europe and it thrives wonderfully on the Riviera but in England it flowers sparingly. This

Rose is common in Yunnan, southwest China, and has given rise to a race of double-flowered Roses which are cultivated for ornament by the Chinese in that region. This Giant Rose is very fragrant and I believe it to be the prototype and parent of the Tea-scented Roses so long cultivated by the Chinese. The prototype of the China Monthly Rose (Rosa chinensis, var. spontanea) was first found growing wild in 1885, by A. Henry, in the province of Hupeh, central China, and in this same region the wild form of the Banksian Rose with single white flowers is extraordinarily abundant; so also is the Cherokee Rose; and further west, in Szechuan, the prototype of the Small-leaved Rose (R. Roxburghii) is one of the most common wayside shrubs.

The genus Rosa is confined to the Northern Hemisphere and its members are found scattered over the cool and warm temperate and the sub-tropic regions of Asia, Europe, and North America. Some of them are found in northern Africa but no species is endemic there. It is an exceedingly difficult genus to classify and botanists differ greatly in the estimate of the number of species. One botanist asserts that all may be included under three species; in the Index Kewensis more than five hundred species are enumerated. In the Arnold Arboretum Herbarium twentysix species are recognized as indigenous in North America; and of these virtually only one {R. setigera), the Prairie Rose, has been utilized by the hybridist to date, and this but sparingly. However, it is well to mention that a double-flowered form of Rosa virginiana, the Rose d' Amour, has been known since 1768, and quite recently Rosa humilis has been crossed with Rosa rugosa.

Except in gardens devoted to forming collections of plants, species of Rose, with a few exceptions, are rarely cultivated and it is trite to say that Roses as ordinarily understood are "made," not discovered wild. In other words, they are the product of the gardeners' skill. I would I could take the readers of this work to the mountain fastnesses of central and western China, and to certain remote parts of Japan and there introduce him to the wild types — the raw material — from which have been evolved our *'Killarneys," "American Beauty," "Mrs. Chas. Russell," "Lady Hillingdon," "Caroline Testout," "Mrs. George Shawyer"; our "Rambler" and "Wichuraiana" hybrids and innumerable others, and his or her astonishment would be profound. Truly it hardly seems credible that the Roses of to-day had such lowly origins.

The French Rose {R. galllca), Provence Rose

{R. provincialis), and Cabbage Rose (R. centifolia) are said to be the only Roses known to Pliny, and it must be confessed that the distinctions between these so-called species are not obvious. From earliest times in the Occident, down to the end of the eighteenth century, the Roses so much extolled by ancient writers and by our ancestors were either wild species native of Persia, Asia Minor, and Europe, or garden forms derived therefrom. These would include, in addition to those aforementioned, the White Rose (R. alba), the Musk Rose (R. moschata), the Damask Rose {R. damascena), the Cinnamon Rose (/?. cinnamomea), the Moss Rose {R. centifolia, var. muscosa). Sweet Briar {R. eglanteria). Sulphur Rose (R. hemisphaerica), Austrian Briar (R. foetida), and the Austrian Copper (R. foetida, var. bicolor).

About the end of the eighteenth century the Ayrshire Roses were originated from R. arvensis, and early in the nineteenth century the Boursault Roses were developed, through crossing the Alpine Rose {R. pendulina) with R. chinensis, and the Scotch Briars from R. spinosissima. Virtually all have disappeared from general cultivation in the gardens of Europe and North America. And all the species of Rose indigenous in North America, Europe, and Asia Minor have fallen into disfavor and are no longer used by the Rose hybridist with the exception of those which have yellow flowers.

In Bulgaria and other parts of the Balkan Peninsula, and on a small scale in parts of India, the French, Cabbage, and Damask Roses are extensively cultivated for the preparation of Attar of Roses. But as garden Roses the old have given place to the new, and the gardens of to-day are resplendent with the products of the China, Tea, Rambler, and Wichuraiana Roses, natives of China and Japan.

New garden Roses are originated by the hybridizing of different species, varieties, and forms, and as sports from existing forms as in the case of "White Killarney" and many others. They are raised by means of seeds, cuttings, layering, budding, and grafting, but it is no part of my purpose to enter into these details. The object here is to tell of what has been, to show the source of what is, and to hint of what may yet be evolved.

Of the vast array of Rose species not more than two dozen have in the past history of the Rose been employed in the breeding of garden Roses. Thus, leaving completely aside the innate tendency to variation on the part of Roses of to-day, it is obvious that Rose breeders and speciaHsts have still a wide untrodden field in which to experiment. It cannot be expected that every species will be found useful in the advancement of the Rose, yet at the same time only experiment, long continued, can decide which are useful or useless. Be it remembered that our present-day Roses owe their principal origin to forms cultivated, we know not how long, by the flower-loving Chinese. The prototypes of the China and Tea Roses have single flowers, and blossom but once a year. When these forms gave rise to "monthly blooming" Roses, or how the latter originated is unknown. Possibly, it was some erratic sport or maybe it was due to a radical change in environment caused by the removal of the parent plants to a region where the seasons were less fixed or winter unknown. However, be this as it may, a Rose with a decided tendency toward perpetual blooming was the most marked advance in the genus, from a garden viewpoint, that had occurred up to that time. How modern hybridists have taken advantage of this variation needs no comment.

All Rose breeders have their ideals, but in striving after size, form, color, freedom of blossom and of habit, after good foliage, hardiness, constitution, keeping qualities of the flowers and the like, fragrance should not be lost sight of. We want Roses good in all points. We want fragrant Roses in increasing quantities. We want a Rambler Rose with pure-white flowers as large and as freely produced as in the Crimson Rambler. Also we want yellow Ramblers, yellow Hybrid Perpetuals, more yellow Hybrid Teas and Tea Roses.

Where can we look for these yellow Roses? Now, of wild Roses with clear yellow flowers there are only known six species: the Simple-leaved Rose (R. persica), Austrian Briar {R. foetida). Sulphur Rose {R. hemisphaerica), Mrs. Aitchison's Rose (R. Ecae) — all natives of Asia Minor and Persia to central Asia (Austrian Briar is also found in the Crimea) — Father Hugh's Rose (R. Hugonis), and Lindley's Rose (/?. xanthina) natives of northern China. The latter, though named in 1820 from a Chinese drawing and long cultivated in Peking where double and single-flowered forms occur, was only introduced to cultivation in April, 1908, by F. N. Meyer of the U. S. JDepartment of Agriculture. Father Hugh's Rose was raised at Kew in 1899. The others have been known for a long period and some have been and still are being used by Rose breeders. The Double Sulphur or Yellow Provence Rose has been known since the seventeenth century. The Yellow Persian was brought from Persia in 1838, by Sir Henry Willock, and is presumably a form of R. foetida. The

Harison Rose is either a form of this or more probably a hybrid between it and R. spinosissima. All these Roses will doubtless play an important part in the future, but, personally, I am of the opinion that the yellow and buff -colored forms of Rosa odorata, var. gigantea are the Roses that will be found of greatest value in the evolution of the yellow Roses of the future. The rampant growth and sparseness of blossom may be urged against them, but who can say how much these characters may be modified under cultivation and by the hybridist? Forms of the Scotch Rose {R. spinosissima) have nearly yellow flowers, but the only other really yellow Roses known are R. Banksiaey var. lutea and the single-flowered R. Banksiae, var. lutescens, neither yet known in a wild state.

Wild Roses are pretty and charming plants, yet it cannot be claimed that their beauty transcends that of other groups of wild flowers. Nevertheless, the Rose holds a unique place in the thought and estimation of civilized man. In poetry and prose its beauty has been extolled far and wide in many tongues. The old Persian poet, Omar Khayyam, in the eleventh century, sang its praises and a Damask Rose now grows on his grave and also on that of his first English translator, Edward Fitzgerald.

The Rose is the one flower whose name is common to the polyglot people of this land. In English, French, German, Danish, and Norwegian its name is Rose; in Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, and Latin it is Rosa; in Swedish it is Ros, in Dutch Roos, in Bohemian Ruze, in Hungarian Rozsa and in Greek Rhodon. Is not this both remarkable and significant? It is the national flower of one great race, but it is loved by all and is the monopoly of no one race nor creed. In one internecine war it was used as an emblem by opposing factions. In this country's Civil War the Cherokee Rose was often planted as a memorial on the graves of fallen heroes by their surviving comrades. And to-day, the sight of the white flowers of this Rose wells up from the heart of many a veteran scenes of carnage and strife and brings back memories of comrades laid to rest beneath its shade.

In this and other lands the Rose has societies devoted to encouraging its advancement, and rightly so. But in some ways the Rose of al flowers least needs the help of special societies. It is the one flower which for some inscrutable reason has never lost its popularity and by this same token never will.

The story of the Modern Rose is a story of progress and as such holds a peculiar fascination over all.

The Near East gave the first fruits to the West; the Far East in due course added its bounty. Europe began the improvement, and soon this country took up a share. The peoples of Asia, Europe, and North America have evolved the Modern Rose. With the rapid advance in the science of hybridizing and the introduction of species and forms from far and near new races will be evolved and new eras in the development of the Rose will arise. The story here briefly sketched is but the prelude to the full story of the Rose which the future will gradually unfold.

Lilium Sargentiae has pure white flowers and is quite hardy Northern gardens in

Chapter II "consider The Lilies" Common Errors Of Belief In The Requirements Of

THESE SUPERB FLOWERS — A DOZEN SPECIES THAT ARE

REALLY HARDY

IN A recipe for jugged hare some one once made the sage remark *' First catch your hare!" This aphorism is sound, and apropos of growing Lilies it may be altered to "First secure healthy bulbs." In the matter of the hare every epicure cannot go forth with dog and gun and hunt his game; neither can every lover of the Lily journey forth to distant regions and dig a stock of bulbs. Both, perforce, must resort to the dealer and depend upon his knowledge and honesty, or on their own judgment.

As one who has hunted the Lily on cliff and dale, on mountain-slope and alpine moorland, and through woodland and swamp in many remote parts of China and the Thibetan borderland, and from the extreme south of Japan northward through that pretty country to Saghalien and the lonely shores of the Okhotsk Sea, I propose here to consider, cursorily, how Lilies grow. No class of herbs is more widely known or more highly appreciated; on no class of plants is more money annually spent (I had almost written wasted); and with no class of flowers do amateurs succeed less. The Lily growers who have achieved outstanding success can be counted on one's fingers, and nurserymen have failed as completely as have amateurs.

Some species, like the Tiger Lily (L. tigrinum,) succeed almost everywhere and often under the most unfavorable conditions. Others, like the Madonna Lily (L. candidum), thrive amazingly in unexpected places where they receive no thought or attention. The Madonna Lily is the glory and pride of many a cottager's garden in the south of England yet often on the "squire's estate" near by neither skill nor care can induce it to happily make itself at home. David Harum opined that "a reasonable amount of fleas is good for a dog — they keep him from brooding on being a dog." How far the Lily enthusiast can apply this philosophy to his own particular troubles depends upon the individual and is very much a moot point.

However, a good many of these troubles are directly or indirectly of his own seeking although he may be quite unconscious of the fact. It would be absurdly fallacious to contend that with knowledge and care every Lily-lover can successfully cultivate any kind of Lily that pleased his fancy, but knowledge and care will teach what particular kinds can successfully be grown and in time convince the enthusiast that he must be content with a limited number. Such knowledge may be of slow growth and painfully acquired but such we value most.

Now, in passing, let us devote a few moments to considering the noblest of all the Lilies — L. auratum, the "Golden-rayed Lily of Japan." How many millions of bulbs of this Lily have been imported; how many thousands of purchasers have been disappointed; how many letters protesting, or seeking advice, have been penned? This wonderful Lily flowered first in this country in 1862, in the garden of Francis Parkman, the historian, at Jamaica Plain, Mass., having been received from Japan through Mr. F.Gordon Dexter. In July, 1862, it flowered in England, for the first time in Europe, with Messrs. Veitch, from bulbs sent from Japan by their collector, John Gould Veitch.

The Japanese eat the bulbs of Lilium auratum and several other species, but for its beauty they do not esteem it or any other true Lily — they never did. But in due time, after intercourse was established between Japan and western nations, largely through the vigorous action in 1853-54, of Commodore Perry of the U. S. Navy, the Japanese discovered that Lily bulbs could be sold for much money, so they began ransacking their country in quest of these bulbs. In those early days we are told the Yama-juri, or Mountain Lily (L. auratum), grew abundantly in the volcanic ash and detritus which form the slopes of sacred and sublime Mount Fuji. To-day it still grows there but in decreasing numbers; yet it is even now the most common wild Lily in Japan. In the volcanic deposits throughout the province of Idzu it is abundant and near by on the small island of Oshima, whose central part is an ever active volcano, grows in quantity the broad-leaved auratum (L. auratum, var. platyphyllum).

For western markets the dealers demand Lily bulbs of certain sizes. After a few years the Japanese discovered that the supply of wild bulbs meeting the necessary requirements was virtually exhausted, but they quickly found that in rich, moist farm land, in one or at most two years, they could grow the small bulbs culled from the mountain slopes and moorlands into large saleable bulbs and, incidentally, that the larger the bulb the higher its market value. Then began in Japan the growing of Lily bulbs for the western markets and here commenced the troubles of would-be cultivators in the Occident of Lilium auratum. In books on Lilies one reads "Lilium auratum grows in porous, open soil largely composed of volcanic detritus overlaid by a deep carpet of woodland soil." The first part of this statement is true but the "deep carpet of woodland soil" is pure fiction.

In Japan there is much poor and hungry soil but none more so than the slopes of august Fuji and the volcanic deposits of the Idzu province. Around Matsushima, a beauty spot in northern Japan, I saw this Lily wild in quantity growing among coarse grass and shrubs on low hills and hillocks of pure, gray sandstone. In western Japan, in the province of Uzen, I also met with it growing wild on gravelly banks and hillsides among small shrubs and coarse grasses. It is the open, porous soil, and not the rich humus, that this Lily luxuriates in. Leaf soil it loves in common with all Lilies, but it wants no unaerated acid peat and it loathes raw nitrogenous manures. True, bulbs transferred from their natural haunts to fields and cultivated like potatoes increase rapidly in size but the constitution of the plant is undermined and it becomes a prey to fungoid diseases.

There is a minimum size to every kind of Lily bulb below which it cannot produce strong, flowering stems. This size varies according to the particular species, but in every case a firm, solid bulb of moderate size will be found more healthy and will give results more satisfactory than a large, loose, and flabby bulb. Purchasers who make mere size their standard of value often defeat the object they have most closely in view. I examined some bulbs of the wild L. auratum and found them only about a couple of inches in diameter though they bore heads of from three to six flowers and, also, were absolutely free of any sign of disease. Later, I asked one of the largest and perhaps the best-informed Japanese grower of Lilies why he did not dig and sell these wild bulbs since they were so healthy and vigorous. With a smile he answered: "My dear sir, I tried it once and found that neither in Europe nor America could a purchaser be found for bulbs so small!'*

Of the genus LiHum, to which all true Lilies belong, about eighty species are known. All are confined to the waste places of the Northern Hemisphere and more than half of them are indigenous in China and Japan. The genus ranges through the temperate and sub-tropic regions from eastern North America to California and through eastern Asia, the Himalayas, and Siberia to the extreme limits of western Europe. It is absent from the plains of the middle west of North America and from central Asia, and there are other considerable gaps in the field of distribution. Two species are found within and confined to the tropics, viz., L. philippinense in the Phihppine Islands, and L. neilgherrense on the Neilgherry Hills in southern India. In this wide domain species of Lilium are found under diverse conditions and a moment's reflection should convince us of the futility of attempting to cultivate in any one garden all the species obtainable. Botanists, chiefly on the shape of the flowers, divide Lilies into five groups, viz. —

I. Flowers strongly recurved and suggestive of a Turk's cap, a famiUar example being the Tiger Lily (L. tigrinum).

II. Flowers large and funnel-shaped as in the common Easter Lily (L. longiflorum).

III. Flowers like a saucer or shallow basin as in the Golden-rayed Lily of Japan (L. auratum),

IV. Flowers erect as in the Umbellate Lily (L. umbellatum) .

V. Leaves broad and heart-shaped as in the Giant Lily (L. giganteum).

For horticultural purposes a much more simple classification may be invoked. For gardens in cool temperate regions Lilies may be divided into two broad groups:

(A.) Hardy Lilies of which L. tigrinum, L. regale, and L. Henryi may serve as examples.

(B.) Not Hardy, of which may be cited L. longiflorum, L. sulphureum, and L. nepalense.

Again, they may be divided into Swamp Lihes which would include nearly all the American species, and Dry-land Lilies which would include most of the species of China and Japan. With almost equal propriety these groups might be styled humus-loving and loam-loving respectively.

Also, we might divide Lilies into shade-loving kinds, as for example, L. giganteum, and sun-loving such as L. regale. But, not to waste time it may be laid down as a law that in the average garden situated in the temperate parts of North America, only such species of Lily as are perfectly hardy withstand sun, and, call for moderately dry land, have any chance of becoming successful denizens. For such gardens swamp Lilies, woodland Lilies, and alpine Lilies, with a few exceptions, may be ruled out entirely.

Most species of Lilies detest lime; to many it is a deadly poison; to none, so far as we know, is lime essential; but some, like L. candidum, L. martagon, and L. testaceuiYiy are apparently indifferent to its presence in the soil.

All Lilies demand good drainage. When one thinks of swamp Lilies this statement may sound unscientific. But dig up a few of these Lilies and note carefully the exact conditions under which they grow. It will be found that the bulb rests on a stone or a piece of rock, or in a tuft of firm sod, or nestles in gritty sand. The roots are in wej: mud or may even hang free in the water; but the bulb is so placed that water cannot stagnate immediately under and around it, and in winter it is fairly dry.