One of the best amateur gardeners we ever knew used to say that there were some plants that throve on neglect, and we really believe that the Madonna Lily is one of them. The cottager who puts some healthy bulbs in dry soil, and leaves them there year after year, gets better flowers than the gardener who fusses and feeds them. There seems to be no doubt that the Lily disease has its best chance in a low, badly drained soil that holds moisture. If you can give your Lilies a dry, well-drained position, you will probably succeed with them. Buy your bulbs from a good firm, dust them well with flower of sulphur, plant them about five inches deep and nine inches apart in sand, and then never interfere with them again. Remember that their flowers will last longer if not exposed to the full midday sun, but do not plant them near the roots of the trees, or where rain cannot reach them. They require rain, but not stagnant moisture. Three bulbs together make a nice clump, and they would look well in the centre of your border. The leaves die down in winter, and when the new ones come in spring, you must look out for slugs. If you have many, surround your Lilies with lime, soot, or wood ashes. Mr. J. Weathers says that a frequent fine syringeing with warm soapy water will sometimes check the disease. If when your Lilies flower you do not want their petals dusted over with yellow pollen, you must remove the anthers, the part of the stamen that contains the pollen. [Illustration: LILIES AND ROSES.] ORANGE LILY (LILIUM CROCEUM). This is the splendid orange Lily with purple spots so much grown in Irish cottage gardens. It is one of the easiest and hardiest of Lilies, and looks well against a background of shrubs or ferns. The bulbs should be planted from six to nine inches deep, and need not be disturbed for years. If you have to dig yours up in spring or autumn, you can increase your stock by carefully detaching the little offsets from the parent bulbs. In time they will make flowering plants. This Lily will grow in sunshine or shade, and in any healthy garden soil. MARTAGON, OR TURK’S CAP, LILIES. Some Lilies make two kinds of roots—one kind from their base, and one kind from their stem. Others only make basal roots, and should, on that account, be planted in autumn. Their root action begins in October, and goes on through the winter, so that if they are lifted in spring they are seriously damaged, and may not flower. All the Martagon, or Turk’s Cap, Lilies, belong to this class. If you want them you must plant them in autumn. You can have them in crimson, white, or yellow, but the handsomest is Album, with stems from four to five feet high, carrying a large number of waxy white flowers. The petals in this species are turned back, and give the effect of a Turk’s cap or turban. They are easily grown in a mixture of loam and leaf-mould, and in a partly shaded position. LILIUM SPECIOSUM.