68 WATER-LILIES 



considerable trouble, and there is no means 

 of knowing exactly which plant yielded the 

 seed just collected. 



To prevent the mixing of seed, it is suffi- 

 cient to tie a cheese-cloth bag over the flower 

 on its last day of blooming. The bag should 

 be tied to a stick stuck in the earth beside 

 the plant, in order to prevent it from being 

 washed away by water currents or carried off 

 by fishes. When the ripe capsule opens, the 

 seed will then be retained in the bag and may 

 readily be gathered. Each plant may carry 

 two or three capsules. 



The largest and best seed is that harvested 

 just after mid-summer. Special precautions 

 must be taken in ripening seed of a weak 

 plant. If one such, starting to bloom, shows 

 indications of special merit, and it is desired 

 to save seed from it, the earlier blooms must 

 be sacrificed. Constantly cut off the flower 

 buds as they appear until such a time as the 

 plant has assumed a more vigorous growth, 

 and even then it is wise to allow but a couple 

 of capsules to mature, thus increasing the 



