Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1899-05-04
HISTORIC THE LILY

EHlSIORYOF THE LILLY
OUR POPULAR EASTER FLOWER FIRST
FOUND IN CHINA.
How 1t Was Transplanted to Japan.
Taken to Bermuda by an American
At One Time nm Edible Bulb-An
Important Business.
To trace the history Of the beautiful
flower commonly known as the Ber-
muda Easter lily one must go back
many, many years, even before the
birth of Christ and into the faraway
land Of China. The Emperor Chow,
who reigned over the Flowery Kingdom
1000 years before the birth of Christ,
was cruel ruler. Even the courtiers
and members of his personal household
stood in awe of him, for they knew not
at what moment he might order g.. 5ir
Punishment or death because Of some
trivial or fancied offense.
The state of the empire under Chow
rapidly grew worse, and one day at the
close Of long session, 1t which many
of the courtiers had offered wise plans
for improvement, Minister Ii signifed
that he would speak with the emperor
alone. When the two had retired to an
apartment where none but the slaves of
the household were in attendance, Ii
Chung, with great solemnity, portrayed
in most elaborate detail the purport of
a message he had received from the
gods, in which great sacrifice of men
and women and beasts and fruits was
demanded, and in return was promised
the prosperity of the whole nation.
This sacrifice and feast, according to
the message, were to take place upon an
island in the sea many miles away,
where the gods made their chief abid-
| ing place. Emperor Chow was overjoyed
at this unexpected promise of prosper
| ity.
Great proclamations were issued, and
| after months of labor the finest ship in
the royal fleet was made ready for sea,
with Prime Minister Ii Chung as COM
mander. With great care he had chosen
100 of the strongest young men and
most beautiful of young women and
beasts and fowls of the finest breed, and
for the feasts there were stored away
| all the delicacies the land afforded.
Among these was the delicious lily bulb
bak-hap, which, translated, means
''the lily of hundred fields, so named
because of it's peculiar formation. Pre-.
pared in many ways, it became sweet
and dainty morsel, and it occupied an
important place among the dishes that
were to comprise the feast for the gods.
Months rolled away The time for
the return Of the ship came and passed,
but no tidings were received. Finally
two men who had shipped as sailors in
the imperial vessel came to port in
strange craft of their own fashioning.
They made their way to the emperor
and told him sad story of the wreck
of the sacrifice ship and presented them
selves as the only survivors. That was
the last Emperor Chow ever heard of
his Prime Minister Ii Chung. w.
But it was not death that prevented
the return of Ii Chung and the great
ship, It was the success of his well laid
beautiful island in the sea, and when
the second night of the voyage had
passed he called around him the youths
and maidens to the selection of whom
he had devoted so much personal care
and poured into their delighted ears the
knowledge that instead of being offered
in sacrifice they were to inhabit and
populate this beautiful island and live,
as his subjects, lives of peace, happiness
and industry. Thus Japan was peopled
By reason Of the change of soil the
bak-hap gradually assumed greater
height and strength above the grounds.
presenting at the same time larger bios
SONS and more luxuriant foliage AS it
improved in beauty it became less use
full as an article Of food, and as,the
people by reason Of their peaceful lives
had developed strong tastes for refine
ment and art they were quite happy to
deny themselves this delicacy that they
might produce something pleasing to
the senses. Hundreds of years rolled
away, the little island became land of
sunshine and flowers, and the arts of
Horticulture and landscape building were
practiced and enjoyed by all. The bak-
hap, the lily, steadily grew in beauty,
and occasionally it was exported in bulb
shape to European and American cities
as the Lilium longiforum.
It remained for an American named
Harris to discover the beauty Of this
flower from our point of view, and after
making study of it's development and
growth he introduced it in Bermuda in
1878. Immediately it received the name
Lilium harrisii, which it retains to this
day. Its common names are the trumpet
lily, Bermuda lily and Easter lily.
Because of the fact that Bermuda
supplies the leading cities on both con-
tinents with the Easter lily bulbs, there
is popular impression that the lily is
native of this island, but old growers
there have no difficulty in disproving
this, and in proving the history as given
above. Some floriculturists have tried
to show that it was sprout from the
Japanese longiforum, but in the end
the majority have agreed that the Years