Surveying more than 100,000 blooms at Locust Hall in Devonshire, Mr. Joe Pacheco, farmer of the National Trust estate for the past 28 years, is understandably proud of the magnificent show.

Now the largest commercial grower of Easter lilies on the Island, he explains, "Ten years ago, Manuel Lopes asked me if I would like some bulbs, and started me off with about 100 of them. Each one has multiplied itself two or three times over each year.'' And for the past eight years, Mr. Pacheco and his sons, Roger and Joe, have been producing the lilies a bunch of which, by tradition, are sent to the Queen every Easter.

With the Christian holiday occurring at a slightly different time each year, Mr. Pacheco would be the first to agree that this can cause a big headache for commercial producers; an early Easter combined with a spell of harsh weather can spell financial catastrophe. "People have to have their lilies for Holy Week. It's part of Bermuda's tradition,'' he adds.

It was Mr. Pacheco's own ingenuity that helped him overcome this particular problem. Noticing the lilies around his own home seemed to thrive better than most, he came to the conclusion this was because his house and garden was lit at night. So he strung rows of electric light bulbs up and down the large lily patch at Locust Hall and, sure enough, he found reluctant plants literally burst into bloom under what he calls "24-hour sunlight''.

Nowadays, Mr. Pacheco and his family are the main custodians of what was once an important export industry for Bermuda. Few blooms -- and even fewer bulbs -- are now shipped overseas, and almost all of the Pachecos' crop is sold locally.

According to Bermuda historian, Mr. W.E.S. Zuill, in his book, "Bermuda Journey'', Easter lilies were apparently first cultivated at Government House in 1850, by Mrs. Elliott, wife of the then Governor. Shortly afterwards, a Hamilton painter by the name of James Watkins produced some of the exotic blooms and some ten years after that, a tailor, James Richardson, displayed his Easter lilies at a bazaar which "astonished everyone with their beauty''.

Ernest McCallan, writing in his classic "Life on old St. David's'', however, maintains the famed flower did not make its appearance here until 1853 -- and by accident. A sailing vessel in distress off the coast of Bermuda, made its way to St. George's harbour where one of the passengers was a missionary returning from Japan. He was also a keen botanist, and in those regulation-free days, was able to hand over some of the bulbs he had collected there to a friend who happened to be J.A.T. Roberts, rector of Smith's and Hamilton parishes. He also handed some over to Post Master General James Thies. After this, it was only a matter of time before the white, waxy flowers were popping up in many of Bermuda's gardens.

It was a veteran of the American Civil War, Gen. Russell Hastings who, from his home at "Soncy'' in Pembroke, recognised the potential of Easter lilies as an export business for the Island.

In 1876 bulbs were taken from Bermuda to Philadelphia, home of the oldest horticultural society in the world and a nurseryman of that city, W.K. Harris, introduced them to the American market under the name of Lilium Harisii -- by which trade name they are still known today.

Among Bermuda's early exporters were Dr. Theodore Outerbridge, George West of Shelly Bay, Harry Doe and Chalmers Stephens in Paget and Albert Inglis and Harley James in St. George's.

Upper Stocks Farm on St. David's Island was the first to produce lilies for the commercial market, while Antonio Gomez was the first to plant them on Cooper's Island. In 1897 Howard and Reeve Smith began cultivation, and Malcolm Hollis, already famous for his blooms at Harrington Sound, also planted commercially on both islands.

St. David's-grown bulbs produced the flowers which earned Bermuda's only gold medal at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924.

Howard Smith's variety of lily became the favourite of British seedsmen, who conferred the name L. Howardii on the bulbs that are still grown today. In 1948, Mr. Smith, whose research had extended the growth season of the lilies, was honoured by Bermuda for his contributions to Bermuda's important export industry. As The Royal Gazette noted at the time, "As a result ... the shipment of lily buds and bulbs to the dollar area is Bermuda's major material export trade''.

To give some idea of the scope of the trade, the first recorded exportation of bulbs to the US in 1883 involved 62 cases, with 51 cases going to England in 1886. By 1896, 14,000 cases were being sent overseas, mainly to the American market.

Before the virtual destruction of St. David's to make way for US bases during the Second World War, the whole island was famous for its extensive farmlands.

As Mr. McCallan writes: "Whether soil and other conditions on St. David's were better suited to lilies than elsewhere in Bermuda has been debated. It is beyond dispute that the most successful growers were located on the Island in 1941, and the loss of their fields was a severe -- though not a lasting -- setback to lily growing.'' There is a certain irony to Mr. McCallan's last comment. For even though growers did find alternative sites across the Island, there can be no doubt that the bulldozers of Kindley were but a taste of things to come. The combination of a post-Second World War population explosion, and the introduction of international business saw an increasing demand for what has become some of the most expensive real estate in the world. With many of even the smaller fields disappearing from the Island's byways, yet another aspect of Bermuda's heritage is fast becoming history.

THEY TOIL NOT... Considering the lilies of the field are a turn-of-the century group, while a farmer takes a noonday nap. (Photo courtesy of the Bermuda Archives.) BLOOMING BUSINESS -- Easter lilies were a major export industry by the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. (Photo courtesy of the Bermuda Archives.)