O r^.T 



LILY POND OF MR E MAYER BEAVER 



Aquatics. 



MY POND LILIES, AND ilOW I GROW TflEM. 



There are few people who know how 

 much tnjoyment can be got from a lily 

 pond, and it is hoped that this brief de- 

 scription may induce others to try the ex- 

 jieriment as the writer did. 



Perhaps a few words ought to be said 

 in the first place about expense, because 

 there stems to be a general id. a that to 

 build and stock a lily pond is very expen- 

 sive; a few figures will dispel this idea. 



The pond first built had an area of 300 

 square feet and was in the form of a 

 crescent, its walls are four and a half 

 inches thick with bricks laid in common 

 cement (two parts sand and one of 

 cement). As the bottom ofit was clay 

 no bncks were laid there, but a coat of 

 cement (two of sand and one of cement) 

 covered the clay about one-fourth or 

 three-eighths inch thick. The bricks on 

 the sides were plastered about one-eighth 

 inch thick with a mixture of one half 



Portland cement and one-half sand, also 

 on the bottom, and the pond never 

 showed any symptoms of leaking. Dur- 

 ing the winter, however, the ice very 

 slightly moved the bricks down to the ice 

 line, and when the spring came the pond 

 leaked and I could not find the cause till 

 I let the water out, and then f lund that 

 there was a minute crack all the way 

 round, but this was readily stopped by 

 applying a thin coat of pure cement with 

 a whitewash brush. The pond is two 

 feet deep. As to bricks, inferior paving 

 bricks were used which cost $4 per thou- 

 sand; they were rough of course but the 

 lace being covered with cement this did 

 no harm, on the contrary, the irregxilar 

 surface gave the cement a better chance 

 of holding. These suggestions when the 

 fact is taken into consideration that all 

 the work is oi:t of sight ought to be an 

 encouragement for the enthusiastic ama 

 teur to build his own pond, and if he has 

 never laid brick before possibly the top 

 course might not come very even, but if 

 such is the case a few rocks laid carelessly 

 over the edge of the pond will hide this 

 defect and very materially add to the 

 beauty of the pond. 



As to the best kind of plants to place 



along the edges: I find that large-leaved 

 cannas on the north side, as the sun must 

 have full sway all the time possible, iris 

 and tall growing plants add much to the 

 beaut3', and on the south side trailing 

 vines along the edges look well. Proba- 

 bly the outside adornment of the pond 

 should be left to each person's individual 

 taste. 



To connect the pond with one of the 

 house conductors is the best source of 

 water supply, but hj-drant water does 

 very well. In my two ponis I grow the 

 following varieties of lilies and other 

 aquatic plants: 



TENDER. 



Nymphsea Zanziharensis. 



Mymphxa Zanziharensis var. itzurea. 



Nymphiea Devoniensis. 



Nywphasa dent at n. 



Nywpbsea gracilis. 



Two varieties of wat. r liyacinth ( Eich- 

 hornia). 



Water poppy (Limnocharis). 



Parrot's feather (Myriophyllum). 



Egyptian paper reed {Papyrus nnti- 

 quorum). 



HARDY. 

 Nymphsea alba candidissima. 



