CHAPTER XIV. 



AQUATIC PLANTS, HARDY FERNS, AND ORNAMENTAL 

 GRASSES. 



Aquatic Plants. 



WHEREVER bodies of water occur, whether large or small, 

 natural lakes, streams, artificial ponds, or fountain-basins, 

 their decoration with more or less of the water-loving plants 

 aquatics can be made to greatly increase the naturally 

 beautiful effects of such features of landscape, Fig. 146. 

 Much interest has been awakened in the past few years in 

 these plants, and many growers of, and dealers in, aquatic 

 plants are found in different sections of the country. 

 There has been a great increase in the growth of these 

 plants for ornamentation, especially in parks and public 

 grounds as well as on many private places. Many of the 

 " aquatics " are easily grown in any shallow body of water 

 that is not fed by cold springs or mountain streams, but 

 some of them, like the Victoria regia, require more or less 

 artificial heat, that may be carried to the water by steam or 

 hot- water pipes from some greenhouse or other heating- 

 plant. Many of them are started from seed, while some of 

 them are propagated by division of the roots. Full direc- 

 tion for germinating the seed and growing the plants may 

 be obtained from the catalogues of dealers in this class of 



plants. 



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