turnips that were formerly grown, but are now but rarely seen in this country. Amongst the allied plants that are worth a place in the herbaceous border, and more particularly in the front of the shrubbery border, the following deserve special mention, as they are handsome and by no means likely to prove hurtful to life, as the common monkshood always is:-Aconitum autumnale, height three feet, flowers pale blue; A. japonicum, like the last, but of a fuller blue; A. chinense, height five feet or more, flowers brilliant blue-a splendid plant, requires a dry, warm border, and shelter; A. lycoctonum, height four feet, flowers creamy yellow; A. variegatum, height four feet, flowers blue and white, a fine plant. All these thrive in common garden soil. Those who have peat soil may add to the list A. paniculatum and A. septentrionale; the first has flowers blue and white, the second reddish lavender.

LILY.

Lilium pomponium.

URING the last ten years or so the cultivation of lilies has expanded and intensified into a distinct floral passion, and as the prominent leaders have a considerable following, the passion is embellished with a fringe of fashion, and consequently many people dabble in lilies who have not much real enthusiasm and still less knowledge of the subject. The introduction of the noble Lilium auratum may be credited with the initiation of this new taste, and, beyond doubt, that lily of lilies is the true luminous centre around which the passion near, and the fashion far off, continually revolve. It is but a necessary circumstance that mistakes have been made in the selection and cultivation of lilies, and it is now beginning to be dimly discovered that certain members of this glorious family are not worth the serious attention of

any except enlightened enthusiasts, and amongst those the best chance of success will be by fate allotted to such as have the longest purses. It was the way of Auratum, the golden-rayed lily of Japan, when the bulbs were worth from one to five guineas each, to die ignominiously instead of gladdening with its magnificent flowers the devotee who had bled for it. Now that it is cheap it lives, and the reason is that we have learned to manage it both as to the buying and the planting; for lilies have soft bulbs, and if exposed to the exhaustive action of the air for any length of time are apt to resent the ill-treatment by shuffling off their mortal coil.

Certain of the lilies are not only deserving of a place, but are very much to be desired in every garden. The best for the borders and shrubberies are the Common White (L. candidum), the Orange (L. bulbiferum), the Canadian (L. Canadense), the Scarlet Martagon (L. chalcedonicum), the Turk's-cap (L. martagon), the Tiger (L. tigrinum), the Turban, or Yellow Martagon (L. pomponium), here figured, and Thunberg's (L. Thunbergianum). All these thrive in good loamy soil; they are rather injured than benefited by the addition to the soil of strong manures, but rotted turf and leaf mould are of great service when added to a loamy staple, when the beds are prepared for them.

The sorts that thrive best in peat, and, therefore, are admirably adapted for planting in the front of rhododendron beds, are the Golden-rayed (L. auratum), the Carolina (L. Carolinianum), the Japan (L. Japonicum), the American L. superbum), the Spotted (L. speciosum), and the Long-flowered (L. longiflorum). These constitute a fine collection, and all are hardy enough for open ground cultivation in the warmer parts of the British Isles,