It is well known that of thousands of Japan lilies planted in this country annually few survive. The true reason has not been discovered. It has been thought that there was some delicacy of constitution; but perhaps the true state of the case has been offered in the following, which we take from an address by Mr. W. E. Endicott before the Massachusetts Horticultural Society :

" It is well known to possess a delicacy of constitution, owing to which the bulbs, after flowering pretty well for a year or two, dwindle and die. The essayist said he had planted great numbers in all soils and positions, but all have gone the same way, except a lot of six planted ten years ago in ordinary garden soil. All but two are in good condition; one of these had the shoot knocked off by a careless person, and the bulb of the other was pierced by the underground shoot of a plant of Arundo Donax. This imperfect success the essayist ascribed to the fact that the bulbs were originally planted twelve or fifteen inches below the surface of the soil, and he has come to the conclusion that all lilies should be planted deep rather than shallow. To get a sound, strong stock of Lilium auratum, they should be raised from seed here. This has been found true in England, where such sell for from one-quarter to one-half more than imported bulbs. It is beneficial to this and other species to provide at least a partial shelter for the lower half of the stem.

A remarkable point about the L. auratum is the variability in the time of flowering, which ranges from June to September, and, stranger still, the plant which flowers early one year will bloom later the next."