St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1899-03-29
History of the Lily.

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 their
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, at 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 its 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 a
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.
But it was not death that prevented
the return of Ii Chung and the great
ship. 1t was the success of his we'll laid
plan. He had learned much of this
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 ani
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 il
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 te
deny themselves this delicacy that they
might produce something pleasing tc
the senses. Hundreds Of years rolled
away, the little island became land oil
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 bull
shape to European and American cities
as the Lilium longihorum.
1t remained for an American named
Harris to discover the beauty of this
flower from our point of view, and after
making a study Of its 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 a popular impression that the lily il
native of this island, but old grower:
there have no difficulty in disprovine
this, and in proving the history as giver
above. Some foriculturists have triei
to show that it was sprout from the
Japanese longiforum, but in the enc
the majority have agreed that the years
Of careful cultivation in the peculiarly
rich Bermuda soil have SO changed it,
value as to give it the wonderful fret
towering qualities it possesses. Scien
ti6c students and importers of the bull
see no difference excepting that the later
day bulb may be "forced" more readily
than the longiforum, which is still pro
duced in Japan, and that the flowers
are wider and more robust.
The lily farmer in Bermuda devotes
his attention exclusively to the cultiva.
ton of the bulb for purposes Of export.
The industry has grown steadily since
the introduction of the flower, some 3,
900, 600 bulbs being exported each year.