500 



THE GUIDE T( ) NATURE 



i Note from I [enry \. I >reer, Enc. 



I 'hiladelphia I. We grow about two 

 acres of these plants, mostly the variety 

 Nelumbium speciosum or Egyptian lotus, 

 as we find this variet) the besl for gen- 

 eral purposes, it being a free grower and 

 very free flowering. There is no doubt 

 but that this is the variety which is in 

 the pond which you describe. 



The Nelumbium, as you, no doubt, 

 are aware, is a native of India and is 

 the sacred lotus of the Hindoos which 

 was early introduced into Egypt. The 

 Egyptians used the seed for a food. The 

 seed was gathered and dried, ground 

 into flour which was then baked into 

 bread. 



The American Indians utilized the seed 

 of the yellow lotus (Nelumbium Interim) 

 in a similar manner and the Chinese and 

 Japanese used the roots of Nelumbium 

 speciosum as a vegetable, the roots being 

 an article of commerce in their stores 

 at the present time. 



Nelumbium speciosum was introduced 

 into America by Mr. E. D. Sturtevant 

 of Bordentown,' N. J., about 1876. A 

 year or two later he set out a plant in 

 an open pond which grew so luxuriantly 

 that in eight years' time it had filled a 



space of three quarters of an acre, mak- 

 ing leaves from two and one half to three 

 feet across, nine to ten feet above the 

 water with abundance of ^flowers. We 

 regret to say that through neglect in 

 recent years this pond has become filled 

 with silt, leaves, etc., which have finally 

 killed out the Nelumbiums. 



Asa general rule, these plants will not 

 flower the first year of planting a> they 

 require one season to become thoroughly 

 established, but, if given lots of soil and 

 room to spread in, they will flower freely 

 the second and succeeding years without 

 any great amount of attention, with the 

 exception of keeping the dead leaves 

 cleaned out, and when they become 

 crowded. A liberal top dressing of bone 

 dust, dried blood or other good chemical 

 manure is beneficial, this being applied 

 early in the spring just before they start 

 into growth. 



The plants should be planted in the 

 vicinity of New York from May 1st to 

 June 1st — in fact, that is the only sea- 

 son of the year it is safe to transplant 

 these plants, as they are very impatient 

 of disturbance at the root before they 

 show growth, and also after they come 

 into active growth. 



THE HUGE, GLOBULAR FLOWER BUDS OF THE LOTUS. 



