NYMPHS AS, TENDER AND HARDY. 241 



done, cover the surface soil with two inches of clean sand and fill 

 up with water. With the advent of warm weather growth will 

 soon commence, after which little care or attention will be required 

 except keeping the pond full of water. 



On the approach of winter, the tanks or ponds, when not too 

 large, should have boards placed across the top and a good cover- 

 ing of leaves placed over all ; this will protect the lily roots from 

 frost. Also, what is equally important in cases where ponds have 

 walled sides, and it is not possible to cover the whole surface, a 

 good covering of leaves on the walls is very important to prevent 

 their cracking. 



The tender, or tropical, lilies should be potted in five-inch pots 

 and started into growth about April 20, keeping the water at 

 about eighty or eighty-five degrees. Pot on, as required, and by 

 June 15 they should be large plants, ready to place in summer 

 quarters, using the boxes and soil before recommended for the 

 hardy varieties. As a means of keeping up the stock, some of 

 each variety should be allowed to remain all summer in six-inch 

 pots. These will produce several hard, well-ripened bulbs which 

 will be ready for potting the following April. Large plants 

 that have flowered during the summer are incapable of being- 

 ripened off, and are better discarded. 



We were formerly of the opinion that in order to grow Tropical 

 Njmiphfeas successfully, artificial heat was absolutely necessary. 

 Experience, however, has shown that they do almost as well with- 

 out it. In unheated ponds I should advise thinner planting ; open 

 spaces of water l^etween the plants add greatly to the beauty of 

 the whole, and allow the water to warm more rapidly by suuheat. 



The Victoria regia, being an annual, requires a somewhat 

 different treatment. Seeds should be sown about February 20, in 

 any ordinary soil and placed in water kept at a steady temperature 

 of ninety degrees. The seed will ordinarily germinate in thirteen 

 days, and the young plants should be immediately removed from 

 the seed pans, and placed singly in good sized tubs, and encour- 

 aged to grow by keeping the water sweet a,nd clean, and the 

 temperature steady as above. The object of transplanting to tubs 

 thus early is to avoid giving any check to the rootgrowtli, 

 which I have found very undesirable in growing this plant. In 

 my opinion the rule of potting on, required by nymphii?as, does 

 not apply to the Victoria regia. 



