44 AMERICAN SEO MES 
is firm and the water clear. 
Sow the seed—which is very 
fine—on the surface of the 
Watec. AS SOON “aS! ait (HS 
thoroughly wet it will sink 
to the bottom and be more 
evenly distributed than if 
sown on the sand. The seed 
germinates in six days; in- 
deed, six seems here to be 
a magic number. In six days 
the seed may be seen to 
crack and a tiny sprout ap- 
pears which inclines down- 
ward toward the soil. An- 
other six days and a fine, 
threadlike shoot of delicate 
green has appeared reach- 
ing upward toward the 
light. Another six days and 
the tiny thread has changed 
into a dart-shaped leaf and 
stem, and with the passing 
of the fourth cycle the first 
true lily pad has appeared 
and the seedling has de- 
clared itself. 
But something more than 
earth and water has been 
required to bring about this 
miracle of plant life. 
Warmth and, after the 
appearance of the first green 
shoot, light and sunshine 
have all been important factors. “The dish containing seeds 
must be given a warm place, free from drafts from the start 
—a shelf back of and above a register, radiator or coal stove 
answers admirably. From this point of vantage it may be 
moved, when the temperature allows, into a sunny window, 
but must never be forgotten or allowed to chill. 
When the pads have made sufficient growth to touch, they 
must be transplanted into larger dishes, care being taken to 
transfer them as quickly as possible, only one plant being 
lifted at a time. When they have attained some size and the 
nights are warm they may be planted out in tubs or shallow 
ponds; if the latter it will be well to plant them in large pots 
or boxes and sink the pots in the soil, that they may be lifted 
in the fall and wintered in a warm cellar or under the 
benches in the greenhouse. Plants started from seed in 
February should give flowers in July. Zanzibariensis rosea 
is a lovely rose, Z. azure a sky-blue, and both are exquisitely 
fragrant. ‘The blossoms are quite small the first year, but 
will attain their full size, from six to ten inches in diameter, 
the second year. 
Four or five plants may be put in one tub 
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<DEPTH OF POND 
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The Construction of a Pond for Lilies and Lotus, Showing 
Dimensions of Stonework 
Much Depends on the pene Bienes of Fe Plants. 
Plants Should Be Separated from the Smaller} 
AND GARDENS January, 1906 
the first year. One will be 
sufficient the second. ‘They 
require more room than the 
lotus, which carry their 
leaves above the water, the 
Zanzibars, like the nym- 
pheas, lying or floating on 
the surface of the water. 
The large lotus should be 
started in small pots of soil 
plunged in water. One seed 
is sufficient for a pot and it 
should be covered its depth 
with soil. Before planting 
the seed, however, it is nec- 
essary, to insure prompt 
germination, to file or sand- 
paper away, at a point op- 
posite the germ, a portion 
of the shell, of sufficient 
depth to show the white. 
With this precaution the 
seed germinates in six days; 
without it, it may lie in the 
ground for weeks before 
signs of life appear. Due 
attention to the temperature 
of the water is also of im- 
portance. In too high a 
temperature the seed ger- 
minatesand throws out leaves 
in rapid succession, but 
- makes no roots and soon 
dies. A temperature of about 
70 degrees is favorable, and less heat, even, is safer than 
more. ‘The lotus is a strong and rapid grower, forming a 
stocky rhizome on which new tubers rapidly form. Grown in 
tubs or small ponds these rhizomes circle around the outside 
of the pond, crowding the nympheas and lilies into the 
center, and as the lotus carries its leaves well above the water 
it effectually hides the floating lilies; it is for this reason better 
that lotus should be grown in a pond by themselves or be 
shut off from the main body of the pond by awallorpartition; 
thus isolated they serve as a background for the lower grow- 
ing lilies. 
In constructing ponds for the growing of aquatics, the first 
essential is that it shall be absolutely water-tight; the second 
frost-proof—that is, of sufficiently firm construction to with- 
stand the heaving of the ground under the action of severe 
frost. ‘To secure the first condition various methods are em- 
ployed, probably the cheapest being the clay bottom. This, 
where the soil is of clay, admits of the construction of very 
large ponds at a cost of the labor employed, the ground being 
first marked out and plowed and the earth removed with a 
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For a Permanent Bed, Solid Walls of Stone, Brick or 
Concrete are Necessary 
