1873. ] HOW SHALL WE PBOTECT OUE BUSH FRUITS ? 53 



AQUATICS.— Chapter IX. 



(5|J^NE of the neatest of our liardy Aquatics is the common Limnanth, 



mJj]/ Villarsia or Limnanthemum nymphcBoides^ which is occasionally met with in 



^^ our English ponds, though it is not very common. I saw it, at no distant 



'*^ date, in fine condition in one of the ponds on Clapham Common, but it is 



now fast disappearing from that locality. 



The leaves, which lie flat on the water, are deeply cordate at the base, about 

 3 in. long by 2 in. across, and in some respects resemble those of the smaller 

 Nymphaeas ; but the margins are more wavy, and the surface is thickly splashed 

 over with ii-regular, dark chocolate spots, especially when in a young state. 

 They are produced in clusters, from which runners are formed after the manner 

 of the Frog-Bit, and these soon form separate plants. The flowers are of a 

 bright yellow colour, nearly rotate, consisting of five petals, about one inch across, 

 and somewhat fringed ; they stand well up above the surface, and are in perfec- 

 tion in July and August, but flowers are produced more or less freely through 

 most of the summer months. 



This plant is admirably adapted for planting where the space is limited. 

 Any one may grow it who can command one foot of water ; or it does equally 

 well for the margins of ponds, even to the depth of three feet. Moreover, being 

 a British plant, no questions need be asked as to its endurance. 



The only other hardy species are the white-flowered V. lacunosa, of New 

 Jersey, and the V. cordata, of North America, with yellow flowers, neither of 

 which is at present in cultivation in this country. The tender species of 

 Villarsia will be treated of in a future chapter. — W. Buckley, Tooting. 



HOW SHALL WE PROTECT OUR BUSH FRUITS ? 



HIS is a question often asked, now that the Small Birds are become so 

 numerous, — thanks to our Liberal Government for protecting what we call 

 our enemies, by putting a tax on the gun, as well as by passing the Small 

 Birds' Preservation Act. When in the North of Scotland in August, 1871, 

 I was very much gratified to see the way in which gooseberries and currants 

 were managed in the different gardens I visited. Small bushes about 3 ft. high, 

 and as much through, were as thickly laden with fruit as with leaves. I inquired 

 how the crop of fruit was kept from the blackbirds. The answer was, " We shoot 

 all the birds in the winter, except a few which we leave for a song." This, no doubt, 

 was true, for it struck me at the time that where there was one small bird to be 

 seen in the North, there seemed at least 20 in the South. In England it commonly 

 happens that several acres surrounding the kitchen garden — in which are planted 

 trees from which the gardener is expected to supply the house with fruit — are 

 planted with shrubs, just as if they were put there for the purpose of breeding 

 birds to eat the fruit, and, what is not less important, the buds. 



The means of protection adopted are various. Here, for instance, the goose- 



