Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1901-04-06
GROWING EASTER LILIES.
The Finest Come from Japan. Where Infinite
Painstakirg Wins Perfection.

Easter lilies will necessarily be n bit
higher in price this season than uSua,
because the intense cold that prevailed
/ in the last of January and all through
February meant increased coal bills.
and more attendants. The tempera-
ture for the successful raising of per
feet lilies must be from seventy to
seventy-five degrees Fahrenheit and
that means constant watchfulness of
the furnace. A night of neglect
simply an hour of low temperature
and thousands of dollars invested in
lilies have been turned into ciphers
! The raising of Easter lilies is an art.
No man unless he was born with 4
golden spoon in his mouth can expect
TO raise lilies the first year. A wise
result of many and many n defeat is
to finally acquire the skill which will
invariably produce perfect flowers in
defiance of the envious. grasping fin
gers of Jack Frost the cOauettiSh va
| citations of the thermometer. and the
| inclination to sleep in the long mid
| night watches on the part of the lily
guardians. 1t requires inccsslnt
watchfulneSS to assure the debut of
flowers at just the Eastertide and no
| other time. No fond mamma could do
| more to make certain the success OK
| the comng-out Of her debutante
! daughter. than does the care-taka Of
the lily, for its bursting into bloom just
about Easter morning.
| If the lily is ambitious and eager to
faunt in the sunshine before the APP
pointed time it must be quickly ,ele-
gated to the realms of darkness and
there it wraps itself in dignied
silence. undisturbed by even the most
infinitesimal reaching out after the
light. If. on the other hand. the plants
are not coming quickly enough into the
blossoming period. they must be
promptly subjected to a forcing PROC
ess that will bring them up in the pro
cession. That means that they must
be placed where they will have more
warmth. moisture and sunshine, and
then they must be carefully observed
that they are not getting too much Of
the good things of life so that after all
they will burst into floral smiles before
they are billed on the calendar.
Florists will rejoice when Easter is
over, and gardeners will sleep the sleep
of the happy if all goes as well as is
now expected. At one well-knOwn
florists twenty-five thousand bulbs
were planted last November and one
hundred thousand flowers will be the
result. Infinite painstaking has been
the price of the flowers from the time
the bulbs were first raised in Japan,
three years previous to planting. to
their cOming-out in America as Eas-
ter beauties. For about two years now
the finest lilies have owed their origin
to Japan. There was time when
Bermuda enjoyed the honor Of fur
niShing the land with the white lowell
ness. but success brought it's own de-
feat in the same old way that is often
so fatal. That is. it became such an
easy thing to raise lilies that proper
attention was not given to them, the
high standard was lost. the bulbs be-
came diseased and florists shook their
heads and began to look elsewhere,
with the result that the beautiful lilies
Of Japan We're discovered.
The pulse of Japanese life is calm
and steady, the rush of life has never
upset their nerves, and there is always
plenty of time to do whatever is at
tempted. Indeed. the growing Of the
lilies is an ideal occupation for the
japanese. For three years they watch
the plants most assiduOusly until at
the end of the third year a fine. stOcky
plant, thicker and shorter than the
Bermuda lily. has reached the height
of perfection. Then the bulbs are sent
TO America. In November they are put
in the earth and for one month are
kept in darkness. After that they are
carried into what is called 4 cool house,
where they gradually get the light.
and after this comes the period of in
tense watchfulness. By no means are
the buds all of the same mind: some
peep out upon the world long before
others do. and all the forward ones
must be set back. and this necessitates
a constant change. 1t requires much
experience to know just how much
water to give the plants and to induce
the thermometer to stay at Just the re-
quired degree means that great many