The herald., 1896-04-05

Wl0r0 90 iii CQ0 lillo5 COIIIo II OnfI
It is puzzling question to many. for
1t seems that they appear by the mil
lion at Easter and then fade away
again, not to be seen in great numbers
until the next Easter comes around.
Out in the Atlantic ocean, $50 miles
due east Of the North Carolina coast,
are 365 tiny islands. They are the Ber-
mudas, and from them comes 80 per
cent Of the Easter lilies used in this
country. Some OF these islands are go
small and 80 low that no one lives on
them, for when the weather is turbu
lent the ocean has a habit of washing
clean over them. More than 300 of the
islands are subject to visitations of this
kind, otherwise they would be inhab-
tied and the lily crop would be thou.
sand times larger than it now is.
In all of the 1865 islands there are but
10000 acres of land, not as much as in
fair sized Texas cattle ranch, and of
this only 1000 acres are under cultiva-
ton. Onions, potatoes and lilies are
grown. and that is about all. New
York gets 80 per cent of these crops
for distribution through the country,
and the best paying of the three is the
lily crop.
How many lilies are grown in the
Bermudas is difficult question to
answer. The figures run way into the
tens of millions. They grow like weeds,
and if it we're merely question of pro-
ducing lilies the Bermudas could easily
food the world with them from one
years end to the other. But the Ber-
muda lily farmers handle their crop
with one purpose in view, and that is
to make the beautiful plant bloom at
Easter time. That at first was diff
cult matter, but now it is accomplish
ed with almost clocklike precision.
Aside from this, there is little trouble
IN the work of growing lilies. The
outer portion of each bulb consists of
scales, everything one upon the other.
These scales represent layers, and at
the base of each of them is a bud.
Each bud represents a plant. The
Bermuda farmer saves few of his
bulbs each year for seed, as the north
Z, ern farmer saves potatoes for the same
purpose. He pulls off the scales and
plants them in September, in shallow
boxes of moist sand. From the bulbs
spring delicate rootlets, which quickly
extend through the sand seeking for
moisture. As soon as the roots are
sufficiently formed the embyro plants
are set out.
By the following summer little bulb
let's are developed. These the farmer
calls his stock. It takes about $4,000
of them to plant an acre. They keep
on growing through all the mild
weather, and in the following June are
ready to be dug. An acre of land
ought to produce 10000 marketable
bulbs, with diameter of from four to
seven inches. It takes four years and
sometimes longer to produce the great
bulbs from nine to fourteen inches in
diameter, from which spring the tall
stalks crowded with many blossoms.
/ The earliest bulbs are dug about the
middle. of June, though they are not
fully ripened until fully three or four
weeks later. The tubers must be
picked as soon as they are taken out of
the ground, because half an hour of
glaring sunshine would ruin them irre-
trievably. No curing Is necessary.
They are merely packed in sand, which
seems to preserve them better than
any other material.
The grower has boards with four
holes of different sizes ia them, and
the bulbs are sorted by being passed
through these holes. The lily fields
are covered with plants varying in
height from a few inches to two or