AQU 



[67] 



AQU 



inches or more higher than the clay. 

 This will prevent it cracking away from 

 the bank. Your aquarium is now ready 

 for the water. Previously to filling it, 

 however, cover the bottom, upon the 

 clay, with a coating of loam, four inches 

 thick. This is intended to encourage 

 the water plants to root in, and cause 

 them to grow finely. If you can procure 

 a sufficient quantity of rough stones or 

 peebles, place them against the banks. 

 These will prevent the water from wash- 

 ing away the clay-puddle. All being 

 now ready, let in the water. 



Planting. As soon as the aquarium is 

 full of water you may plant the aqua- 

 tics. The best mode is to have some 

 wicker baskets of various sizes, to suit 

 the size of each plant. Fill one with 

 soil, inserting the plant intended for it 

 at the same time ; cover the top of the 

 soil with some twisted haybands, coiling 

 them round the plant ; then lace them 

 firmly down with some strong three-cord 

 twine, passing it under the rim of the 

 wicker basket, so as to keep in it the 

 soil and the plant. Throw either a plank 

 or a long ladder across the water. On 

 this you can walk, carrying the plant 

 with you. Drop it into the place you 

 intend it for, and so treat all the other 

 water plants. Some of them, the water 

 lily, for instance, have their leaves float- 

 ing on the surface, but this is not need- 

 ful at first. They (the leaves) will soon 

 rise to the surface, and assume their 

 natural position. The water violet has 

 both its roots and leaves floating; all 

 that is required, then, is to cast it into 

 the water, and let it flourish as it pleases. 



Some of our readers may wish to have 

 aquatics cultivated in tanks formed with 

 masonry, the water to be used for water- 

 ing plants in pots, &c. This can be 

 easily accomplished by puddling the bot- 

 tom with clay, as mentioned above, and 

 building upon it sloping walls, using 

 Roman cement for mortar. These, if 

 well executed, are very ornamental, and 

 of a neat appearance. If the tank walls 

 are carried up three or four feet above 

 the level, the plants are then brought 

 nearer to the eye. An example of this 

 may be seen in the royal gardens at Kew. 

 Single plants of this kind may be culti- 

 vated in vases, or even in troughs, the 



only thing they will require being a por- 

 tion of mud at the bottom for the plants 

 to root in. The after-culture the aqua- 

 tics will require is, if possible, to change 

 the water frequently, and keep the sur- 

 face clear from water mosses. A few 

 ducks soon clear off the latter; other- 

 wise the mosses must be skimmed or 

 flooded oif with water, if there is supply 

 enough. 



The following are some of the best 

 hardy aquatics : 



Alisma stratiotis (water soldier), native 

 of Britain. 



Aponogeton distachyon (Two-spiked 

 Aponogeton), a very pretty floating 

 aquatic from the Cape of Good Hope ; 

 yet, although from a warm country, it is 

 sufficiently hardy to survive an ordinary 

 winter. It has white flowers. 



Butomus umbellatus (Umbell-flowering 

 Rush), one of the best of our native 

 aquatics found in ditches. It has beau- 

 tiful heads of pink flowers, and does not 

 require deep water ; consequently, may 

 be planted near the edge of the water. 

 Cattle are very fond of its leaves. 



Calla palustris (Marsh Calla), a native 

 of North America, and 



Calla ^Ethiopica (African Calla), both 

 plants of great beauty ; the latter is on 

 that account cultivated as a greenhouse 

 and window plant, and is commonly 

 called the " arum plant." This species 

 is rather tender, but will survive our 

 winter if planted in deep water. 



Hottonia palustris (Marsh Hottonia), 

 flesh-coloured flowers: a native of Britain. 



Menyanthes trifoliata (Three-leaved 

 Buckbean), with white flowers. This is 

 another native species, growing in shal- 

 low waters. It is very pretty, and worth 

 cultivation. 



a fine water plant, native of Britain. 



Nupliar advena (Stranger JS"uphar), 

 yellow and red; a fine species from 

 North America. 



Nympluea alba (White Water-Lily). 

 This is, without doubt, the finest of our 

 hardy water plants. It loves deep water, 

 with plenty of room, and a muddy bot- 

 tom to root in. It then will produce 

 numbers of its beautiful large milk-white 

 flowers. 



Typlia latifolia (Broad-leaved Cat' 



