It is a singular fact that the lilies have attained to the lighest degree of popularity, and yet they are amongst the most capricious plants known to our gardens. The glorious golden-rayed lily (L. auratum) flowers and dies, and occasionally even dies without flowering. In a few places it thrives "as to the manner born," but, generally speaking, those who will have it in their gardens must from time to time renew their stock by purchasing roots imported from Japan. Even the common white lily (L. candidum), which is discoursed on in our first series, though only the commonest of our hardy garden flowers, is eccentric, fickle, and often seriously disappointing; for strong clumps will in one garden produce not a single flower in a run of ten or more years, while in another garden, with the self-same soil and climate, similar clumps will flower annually in the most delightful manner. One probable cause of the disappointments that occur in the lily garden is the exhaustion of the bulbs through excessive flowering. The disappearance of L. auratum is certainly traceable to this cause in some instances; but the ways of the lilies are as yet but imperfectly understood, and the commonest and cheapest are given to vagaries that no one can explain.

As we have before us a very hardy, free-flowering, and useful lily, a few general directions on lily culture may be useful. When lilies are planted out they should have the full sunshine, for the shade of trees is unfavourable both to bloom and longevity. The commoner kinds will bear a certain amount of shade without harm, but it should always be borne in mind that lilies love sunshine.

The lilies may be divided into two groups as regards the soil that suits them: one group needing a loamy, and the other a peaty soil. But they will all thrive--other circumstances being fairly favourable--in a mellow well-drained loam, or in a nourishing fibrous peat. A boggy, sour, poor, or chalky soil will not suit a single lily, whether it be the commonest or the rarest. In preparing for lilies, it is not advisable to use stable manure, except as a top-dressing when the planting is completed, but the cow-shed will supply a suitable fertiliser to dig in and mix with the staple. Far better, however, as an aid in making up a bed for lilies, is a heap of rotted turf, leaves, and other vegetable refuse, forming what is known to gardeners as "leaf-mould." A good soil they must have, but stimulants are likely to do more harm than good, and their free employment in promoting a grand bloom of Auratum will often account for the perishing of the bulbs when the bloom is past.

Lilies are often described as needing an abundance of water. As regards those planted out in a deep fertile soil, our opinion is that they do not want any. We have often felt perfectly satisfied that if we could screen our lily beds from rain, and compel the sun to shine upon them from May to August, we should have glorious bloom above and a great increase of bulbs below, and, beyond all doubt, hot dry summers bring the garden lilies to their highest perfection.

The inexperienced amateur is likely to make a fatal mistake in his first venture in lily culture by planting at the wrong season. All beginners have an idea that the spring is the proper season for every kind of garden work, including the planting of lilies. The "proper" time to plant them is as soon as possible after they have flowered. As a rule, therefore, lilies should be planted from July to October, and in every case it would be well to do the work directly the last of the flowers falls from the stem. The florists do their best to keep lily bulbs fresh and plump through the winter for the late-coming customers, but Nature does not alter her ways to accommodate our mistakes. She simply makes us pay for them; and if we will walk in the wrong way, the path before us is soon found to be strewn with stumbling-blocks, but the right way is always easy and pleasant.