Having in February last received a large collection of Lilies from Japan - sent home by Lieut. Woodroffe of the Royal Navy, where he had been stationed three years - I desire to give some account of my treatment of them. The collection consisted, among others, of 220 bulbs of L. auratum. These were potted as soon as they arrived, the largest bulbs in 32-sized pots; the smaller ones, four or five into 24-sized pots. The following mixture of soils was used: about equal quantities of peat and strong loam, and about a sixth part of leaf-mould, with a good portion of silver-sand to keep the soil open: these were well chopped to pieces with the spade and thoroughly mixed together: the pots were well drained with crocks about an inch deep, and then about the same quantity of the roughest of the compost put over them, the bulbs placed about an inch below the rim of the pot, and the soil pressed firmly about them. I then placed them in a cold vinery till they began to grow, and very little water was given till they began to grow freely.

They will not be allowed to get dry till they have done flowering, when water will be gradually withheld, and the pots laid on their side to mature the bulbs till potting-time comes round again, which should not be later than November.

The auratums began to bloom the first week in June, and will continue to do so for at least another month; that will make a successive bloom of three months. They vary in size and markings; some are of a much brighter yellow in the centre of each petal than others: the largest flower was about 24 inches in circumference. Four bulbs not larger than a hen's egg gave two and three blooms each. The best bloom I have at present is a deep yellow at the bottom of the petals, shading off to a brown at the margin of the centre of each, with large spots of red.

My experience with this grand Lily had been somewhat limited till this season, as the first auratum I bought a few years ago, after it had flowered the second year, was laid in the pit under the stage in the greenhouse with several of L. lancifolium, to rest previous to potting; and to my great annoyance the auratum bulb was eaten by mice, and not one of the other varieties touched by them. It appears to me that species was preferred by the mice on account of the bulb being sweeter to the taste than the others.

Should any of your readers have had any experience of the auratum bedded out, I shall feel very grateful if they will give the result in the pages of the 'Gardener.'

I intend to bed them out myself this autumn, and have selected some twelve varieties for the purpose; and I hope, all being well next summer, to send you some account of how far I succeed with them.

There can be no question about the hardihood of the Lily, as Lieut. Woodroffe informed me the winters in Japan are nearly as cold as in England, and that they have plenty of skating there. The Lanci-foliums received with the auratums are not yet in flower. They are potted one bulb in a 24-sized pot, and are now 4 or 5 feet high, and have from five to ten blooms on each; but none are yet expanded, probably because of being potted late. There are in the collection some orange-yellow varieties, in the way of L. aurantiacum, and L. Thun-bergianum. Should anything good flower amongst them, a description of them must be given on a future occasion, as from what I have seen of those that have flowered, I consider them more curious than pretty.

I fear the culture of the Japan Lily is not properly understood, as a gentleman in this neighbourhood received a collection from his brother in Japan, but did not succeed in flowering them, in consequence of not growing them in their proper soil; and others I have known that have bought bulbs of L. auratum, and not succeeded well with them. One in particular was astonished when I told him they would not grow in common garden soil. When I examined the soil his bulbs were potted in, I found it did not contain a particle of peat or silver sand.

There is something so beautiful in the Lily tribe - whether it is the modest Lily of the Valley or the common L. candidum of the gardens, with their pure white flowers, or the numerous varieties received from Japan - as to deserve a more extended culture.

Who can survey a beautiful Lily without the mind at once reverting to that passage in Scripture - "Consider the Lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; and yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." And their beautiful flowers, exquisite colouring, and rich markings, and in some instances their delicious perfume, deserve that some such immortal saying as this should be the fitting record of their splendid qualities.

William Plester.

Elsenham Hall Gardens.