- LILY THIEVES.
During the week I paid a visit to some of the districts where the ravaging of wild flowers evoked a potent cry of protest from the Bishop of Gloucester. In that delicious stretch of English country which lies between Cirencester and Cheltenham are found some famous flower meadows and patches of woodland. Thereabouts grows, for example, the lily of the valley in its wild state ; and it seems especially to stimulate the greed of the tripper. He is not content with the flower, but must have the bulb. On one property at any rate the flower is only being saved by the expensive method of keeping a constant watcher against the flower poachers. The digging up of such bulbs is mere meanness and greed. They can be bought cheaply enough and are easy to cultivate. The lily of the valley, rather rare in its wild state, flourishes better than most plants (expert° erede) in small sunless patches of gardens in London, as, for example, on either side of the wall of old Chelsea physic garden.
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