AQU 



[65] 



AQU 



the " rude imperious gale," but, what is 

 much, worse, to be subjected occasion- 

 ally to a temperature of some ten or 

 fifteen degrees of frost. We have ever 

 found it the best policy to protect care- 

 fully ; using a rather thick covering, and 

 taking care to remove it on every pos- 

 sible occasion. Nothing can be better 

 than a stout canvas ; some, however, use 

 bunting ; some ordinary garden mats ; 

 and not a few the fronds of fern ; spruce 

 branches ; and even wisps of straw. 



General maxims of culture. First of 

 all, a sound loamy soil, with very little 

 manure, is most suitable. It is well, 

 nevertheless, in order to gain, time, to use 

 a little generous soil to start the plant 

 into free growth. Second, to persist in 

 summer stopping, in order to equalise 

 growths. And, thirdly, after careful 

 summer training, to remove all super- 

 fluous spray, which shades the embryo 

 fruit-buds in the end of August. In ad- 

 dition to this, top-dressings in May, and 

 the application of liquid manure, when 

 the fruit commences the last swelling, 

 will be found useful adjuncts of high 

 culture. Apricot branches, especially 

 the moorpark, are apt to decay of a sud- 

 den without apparent reasons. By per- 

 sisting in the tying- down system how- 

 ever, a succession is ever ready for any 

 gap. 



AQUARIUM is the place devoted to the 

 cultivation of aquatic or water-plants. 

 The majority of those cultivated are ex- 

 otic and require the protection of glass. 

 If there are only a few of these they 

 may be successfully grown in cisterns 

 placed in a stove ; but if the collection 

 be extensive, it requires a separate edi- 

 fice. The tank-system of heating by hot 

 water offers a very superior mode of 

 keeping the water at a fitting tempera- 

 ture. The leaden cistern in which the 

 plants are submerged may rest readily 

 upon the slates forming the cover of the 

 tank. The handsomest form for this 

 purpose would be a circular building 

 devoted entirely to the aquatics, because 

 they do not thrive satisfactorily in parts 

 of or corners of a house in which other 

 plants are cultivated. The size will de- 

 pend upon the will or the means of the 

 owner. If the cultivation of the imperial 

 Victoria regia is intended, it ought not 



to be less than 26 feet diameter. This 

 will allow a tank of 20 feet diameter, 

 and a walk 3 feet wide round it. To 

 make it hold water, the sides should be 

 made of thick slates, fitted so as to be 

 water-tight ; or it may be built with 

 bricks set in cement, and lined with the 

 same. It should be at least 3 feet deep, 

 for the Victoria loves deep water. The 

 water should be heated with 4|-inch hot 

 water pipes coiled three times round the 

 tank, and two pipes should be carried 

 round the house, near to the outer wall, 

 to give heat to the air of the house. The 

 roof should be formed with wrought iron 

 bars, and should be flat, as far as possible, 

 to allow the rain-water to run off freely. 

 The Victoria should be planted on a 

 mound of strong earth, the base of which 

 should be at the least 5 feet in diameter, 

 and the top 2 feet, and it should be 

 brought up within a foot of the surface 

 of the water. This should have a motion. 

 given to it by means of a vertical wheel 

 with narrow boards affixed to it at right 

 angles, at 6 or 8 inches apart. This ver- 

 tical wheel should dip into the water a 

 few inches, and should play upon an 

 axis ; being set in motion by a small 

 stream of water falling constantly upon 

 the boards. This wheel will give a 

 gentle motion to the whole surface of 

 the water, which motion will be a faint 

 imitation of a stream, and will be very 

 beneficial to the plants. The heat of the 

 water should be never lower than 70. 

 Air will be necessary in the hot days of 

 summer, and may be given by means of 

 shutters in the walls 8 or 9 feet apart, 

 and a circular opening in the roof, at the 

 centre, 2 feet or 3 feet in diameter. This 

 part may be easily contrived to lift up 

 and fall down by a simple machinery, 

 easily contrived by any mechanic. This 

 will cause a circulation of air, necessary 

 in all habitations of plants. If the Vic- 

 toria is not intended to be grown, the 

 house need not be more than half the size. 

 The Victoria house at Chatsworth is a 

 noble structure for the purpose. It is, 

 however, the opposite to our beau ideal 

 of an aquarium, being square, with a cir- 

 cular tank in the centre, and the corners 

 filled up with eight small tanks, in which 

 are grown one plant of a kind of other 

 five stove aquatics. A walk runs round 



