AQUATICS 



AQUILEGIA 



3-39 



They should be already "started" before setting out. 

 The tubers should be laid horizontally in a slightly 

 excavated trench and covered with 2 or 3 inches of soil, 

 using a weight, if necessary, to keep the tubers in posi- 

 tion. Plants established in pots or pans are very con- 

 venient for planting, and may be purchased when tubers 

 can no longer be procured, and can be planted a month 

 later in the season with good results. 



The Victoria regia has always been an aristocrat 

 among water-lilies, and few cultivators could indulge in 

 such a horticultural luxury. To grow it satisfactorily, 

 a large surface space with a greater depth of water is 

 necessary than for other aquatics, and a higher tempera- 

 ture is needed at the early stages. It can be cultivated 

 in the open air, but artificial heat must usually be ap- 

 plied and protection afforded, so as to maintain a tem- 

 perature of 85° F. In 1898 the introducer of V. Tricken 

 brought the Victoria within easy reach and culture of 

 aU lovers of aquatic plants. V. Tricken is entirely dis- 

 tinct from other known varieties and can be grown in 

 the open alongside of Nyiiiphaa zanzihariensis and A'^. 

 di-vonicnsis, and under precisely the same conditions. 

 When planted out about the middle of June, the plants 

 grow rapidly, and will develop their gigantic leafage 

 and magnificent flowers in August, and continue to do 

 so until destroyed by frost. V. Trickcri is none other 

 than V. Cruziana, which was never introduced into cul- 

 tivation until 1898. All that existed outside of its na- 

 tive haunts, on the Parana River, South America, was 

 an herbarium specimen of part of a leaf. It is now 

 generally and extensively grown throughout the United 

 States and in Europe where aquatics are cultivated. 



Enemies. — Aquatics, like other plants, have their 

 enemies in the way of insect pests, although in a less 

 degree than most plants. Aphides are sometimes 

 troublesome, or at least very unsightly. These, however, 

 have their enemies, especially the coccinella (lady-bird), 

 insectivorous birds, and so on. When these do not 

 keep them down, a weak appUcation of kerosene emul- 

 sion will make a clearance. Another method of getting 

 rid of these pests, especially in a small artificial pond, 

 where an overflow is (or should be) iirovided, is to take 

 the hose with a spray, using a little force, and drive the 

 insects off the plants, and, as they readily float on the 

 water, the action with the hose will drive them out at 

 the overflow pipe. Recently an insect pest that has its 

 home in Florida has migrated northward, causing some 

 annoyance. The larva of the moth H ydrocampa pro- 

 prialis eats the leaf, and also cuts out pieces of the same, 

 which it uses for protection, thereby greatly disfiguring 

 the plant, and at the same time making it difficult to 

 get at the enemy. The best remedy for this and the 

 nelurnbium moth, which is very much like it, is a lamp 

 trap. Any ordinary lamp placed near the plants at 

 night, and standing in a shallow vessel containing kero- 

 sene, will attract the insects, which, on striking the 

 lamp, fall into the kerosene and are no further trouble. 

 For other insects, such as leaf-miners and those which 

 eat the leaves of plants, the best remedy is arsenate of 

 lead. Muskrat.s are more or less troublesome, especially 

 where nelumbiimis are grown. They will eat the tubers 

 in winter and early spring, and will make sad havoc 

 with banks. They will also eat the roots of some nym- 

 pheas. The best remedy for these is the steel trap. A 

 sporodic disease has also made its appearance. The 

 leaves are affected with spots, which, under a damp, 

 warm atmosphere, spread rapidly. Such climatic con- 

 ditions, followed by bright sunshine, cause the affected 

 leaves to shrivel up. This greatly weakens and checks 

 the plants. This disea.se yields readily to a weak solu- 

 tion of bordeaux mixture. The same remedy is also 

 verj' valuable in ridding the pond of all confervoid 

 growth. 



Tuh culture should be resorted to only from lack of 

 space, or when no other method can be adopted (Fig. 

 291). For this system of culture, nympheas should be 



chosen that are moderate growers, yet free-flowering, 

 and other miscellaneous aquatic plants. The tubs 

 should hold from 4 to 12 cubic feet of soil for nympheas, 

 according to the variety, some being moderate growers, 

 others vigorous and robust. The tubs may remain 

 above ground or sunken. If sunken during the warm 

 weather, the roots are kept cooler, and this is desirable, 

 especially if hardy kinds are grown. A great improve- 

 ment over tubs is a concrete pool 4 or .5 feet in diameter 

 made in the shape of a tub, and 2 feet deep. A circular 

 form 4 or more feet in diameter should be made and the 

 ground then excavated 8 inches larger than the form. 

 This will allow a wall of concrete 4 inches thick. Wire 

 netting should be used for reenforcing, arranged so as 

 to be in the middle of the wall. Use a mixture of sand, 



291. Tub of water-lilies. 



gravel or cinders in the following proportion : two bags of 

 Portland cement, three wheelbarrows of sand, five wheel- 

 barrows of gravel or finely broken stone or cinders and 

 Umoide equal to one-fourth of cement. This must be 

 thoroughly mixed before using. After the second day, 

 remove the form and lay the bottom with the same 

 material 4 to 6 inches thick. This will make a strong, 

 durable, water-tight pool and at a very moderate cost. 



William Tricker. 



[The standard book on the American culture of aquat- 

 ics is "The Water Garden," by Wm. Tricker, N. Y., 

 1897, pp. 120, to which the reader is referred for exten- 

 sive cultural directions and for Usts of aquatic plants. 

 For botanical descriptions of the various kinds of 

 aquatics, with brief, special cultural directions, the 

 reader may consult the articles in this Cyclopedia, 

 under the various genera, as Nelurnbium, Nymphxa, 

 and Victoria. — L. H. B.] 



AQUILEGIA (from aquilegus, water-drawer, not from 

 o^utia, eagle). Ranuncid acex . Columbine. Hardy per- 

 ennial herbs of th<! northern hemisphere; grown for 

 their profusion of showy flowers in early summer, and 

 the deUcate foUage later on in the year. See page 3565. 



Mostly with paniculate branches, terminated by 

 showy fls., and 1-3 ternately-compound Ivs., commonly 

 glaucous: the Ifts. roundish and obtusely lobed: fls. 

 large, showy, usually in spring or early summer; sepals 

 5, regular, petaloid ; petals concave, produced backward 

 between the sepals, forming a hollow spur; stamens 

 numerous: fr. of about 5 many-seeded follicles. — 

 About 30 distinct species. J. G. Baker, A Synopsis of 

 the .\quilegia, in G.C. II. IQ: 19, 76, HI, 203 (1878). 



The columbines are among the most beautiful and 

 popular of all hardy plants. The tall and strong-growing 



