394 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



water lilies, though there are also water 

 poppies. 



The plants that most persons would 

 desire are few in number. First, water 

 lilies of different varieties are desirable. 

 Certain of them are hardy and would 

 live over winter in the deeper tanks 

 if the earth does not freeze. Certain 

 effective ones though are tender, so it 

 is better to arrange to not expose any 

 of them. Water lilies are gross feed- 

 ers and require the richest soil pro- 

 curable : a good formula is one quarter 

 each of well rotted leaf mould and cow 

 manure and one quarter each of 

 potting soil and swam]) muck. 

 For pots I used the tin buckets that 

 certain crackers come in. They are 

 eight inches high and eight inches in 

 diameter. The bails are kept on for 

 convenience in handling ami the tins 

 are given inside and out a coating of 

 asphaltum varnish. Experience has 

 shown that the plants do well and 

 bloom quite freely. They should be 

 planted so that the sprout is just at 

 the surface of the soil and, at starting, 

 better not too deep in the water; later 

 they can be placed about eight inches 

 below the water surface. In a tank five 

 by two feet four lilies will do nicely, 

 but it is possible to crowd in five. As 

 the leaves get old and as the flowers 

 fade they must be removed, both for 

 appearance's sake and to encourage 

 new growth. In the late fall lift the 

 pots out and place them in a cellar 

 where the plants cannot freeze, keep- 

 ing the soil just damp, and the lilies 

 with few exceptions will carry over 

 well. The ordinary white, the yellow, 

 blue and Cape Cod are little trouble, 

 but the pinks and reds are very un- 

 certain. In the spring separate the 

 plants, using the rhizomes with strong 

 eyes, and proceed as before, giving the 

 excess to start some one else on the 

 hobby. 



For the smaller aquatics, such as 

 poppies, etc., use smaller tins, painted 

 in the same manner with asphaltum, 

 and grow in the more shallow tanks. 

 It is not worth while to try to keep 

 most of them over the winter, as suc- 

 cess rarely comes. The expense is 

 trifling to renew a plant or tw r o and 

 the increase is rapid. Of the semi- 



aquatics, such as the umbrella plant, 

 etc., the pots sin mid be just below the 

 surface of the water. Those that are 

 not hardy can usually be kept in the 



DR. BURGIN EXAMINING RECENTLY 



HATCHED GOLDFISH IN HIS BACK 



YARD AQUARIA. 



house during the winter if the pot 

 (tin bucket) be kept full of water all 

 the time. There are many wild semi- 

 aquatic plants that are handsome ad- 

 ditions and easily obtained each year. 

 Water hyacinths are very effective and 

 can be grown in the shallow tanks by 

 having an old agate ware pot of such 

 depth as to be about an inch below 

 the surface of the water and half fill- 

 ing it with rich earth ; the hyacinths 

 will soon root and repay with hand 

 some bloom. The so-called "parrot's 

 feather" is also easily grown in the 

 same manner, and a patch of it is beau- 

 tiful. Both of these latter plants will 

 not winter and must be renewed each 

 year; but, as they increase rapidly, 

 only one or two starting plants are 

 necessary. The use of tin receptacles 

 is peculiarly my own idea, and it is 

 largely because of their lightness and 



