CHICAGO, AUGUST 1. 1896. 



No. 94. 



ONE OF MR. ERNEST MAYERS WATER LILY POHDS AT BEAVER FALLS. PA 



Aquatics. 



AQUflTICS. 



The weather this season — in this section 

 of the country, (Pennsylvania)— has been 

 particularly favorable for growing tender 

 aquatics. Amateurs, as a rule, will put 

 plants out too early, but thisyear's warm 

 early spring was an exception to our 

 usual weather, and everything put out 

 went right ahead and is now in advance of 

 the season because there were no late 

 frosts. 



We have three ponds, one for hardy 

 lilies, one for tropical and one for lotus. 

 Ill the hardy lily pond are growing N. 

 tuberosa, N. prgmiea, X. odorata 



sulphurea, M. odorata rosea, X odorata 

 Caroliniana, N Marlicea carnea N. Mar- 

 liacea chomatella, N. Marliacea carnea, 

 N. Marliacea albida N. alba candissima, 

 and N. alba candidissima gigantea. 



In the lotus pond there are five different 

 varieties of lotus, but last year only 

 Nelumbium roseum and N. speciosum 

 bloomed, and this year so far only A'. 

 roseum has bloomed. 



In the tropical lily pond the following 

 are growing, Victoria Regia, X. Zanzi- 

 barensis, X Zanzibarensis azurea, X. 

 Zanziharensis rosea, X. scutifolia, X. 

 Columbiana, X. dentata, X. Devoniensis, 

 X. Sturtevantii. 



Scattered around among the three 

 ponds are the following plants: Scirpus 

 Tabernsemontana zehrina (porcupine 

 rush), Cyperus alternifolius, Eichhornia 



azurea, Eichhornia crassipes major, ' 

 Limnocharis Humboldtii. 



It has long been a riuestion in my mind 

 whether it is better to leave hardy lilies 

 yearafter yearin soil, givinggood soil and 

 ample room to start with and allowing 

 them to become established, or dividing 

 up the roots every year and giving them 

 new soil and using suitable boxes, say 

 24x24x10 or 12 inches. Previous to last 

 year our hardy lilies have always been 

 put i'l boxes, and this experiment of 

 ])lanting them in the soil was to try 

 which method was the better of the two, 

 and will now state that hereafter the 

 boxes will be strictly adhered to, as by 

 this means far more blooms can be got. 



The only theory that I can give for the 

 plants not doing so well in the deep 

 water is that the leaves keep the buds 



