CHAPTER VII. 



SEEDLING PLANTS AND PROPAGATION. 



FROM the first of February onward, seeds of Nymph£eas and other aquatics 

 may be sown; location, requirements, and convenience for handling must 

 be considered independently. In good seasons March is more favorable for 

 quick and healthy growth, and the resulting seedlings are not so apt to get a 

 check or become stunted in their growth. The seed may be sown just as other 

 flower seeds, in pots or pans, using soil neither light nor heavy. Soil from a 

 pile of sods and manure composted the previous fall will be in prime con- 

 dition; if the soil be inclined to heavy add sufficient sand to make it porous. 

 If this soil be not available use the best that can be procured, such as that in 

 which it is known that other flowers will grow, but do not use fresh manure in 

 the soil, as it will ferment in the water. Sow the seed on a smooth surface 

 and cover lightly with fine sandy soil, after sowing stand the pots in water 

 for a few hours until thoroughly soaked, afterwards submerge in water covering 

 the pots two to three inches; keep the water at a temperature of 75° to 

 80°. The seedlings of the stellata type will germinate in about ten or fifteen 

 days, looking somewhat like spears of grass, the first leaf will be visible a few 

 days later. The seed of Nymphasa dentata and of other night blooming Water 

 Lilies requires several days longer before germinating, and the hardy species 

 longer still. No definite time can be stated, we have had s.ed germinate six 

 months after being sown. 



After the seedlings have made two or three leaves they should be trans- 

 planted into other pots or seed pans, similar to other seedlings, using soil as in 

 the first instance. This operation may at first be somewhat tedious, but the 

 simplest method of handling these seedlings is to keep them in the water; use 

 a flat pointed stick, or better still, a piece of bamboo cane, and having filled 

 the pots with soil covered lightly with sand, place them in the water along- 



