354 



THE AQUARIUM. 



Oryza sativa. Almost all aquatic plants are readily propagated by seeds, 

 or by parting their roots. The seeds of aquatic plants should be sown as 

 soon as they are ripe, for, if we except NelumMum speciosum, they lose their 

 vegetative powers if kept long in the air ; and when it becomes necessan- 

 to transport them to a distance, they are usually sent in bottles of water. 

 In this w^y Otto of Berhn received the seeds of Zizania aquatica, or 

 Canada rice, sent from that country to Europe. Seeds of aquatics are 

 best sown in the water, and in due time they will vegetate and grow 

 without much further trouble. 



The genera LimnocJiariSy Menyanthus, Pontederia, and Aponogeton, 

 propagate freely by parting their roots, which becomes a measure of 

 necessity, on account of the rapidity of their growth : the two latter are 

 comparatively hardy, and will sometimes survive the winter, if mild, in 

 the open ponds. They may also be successfully cultivated if planted in 

 deep pans or tubs, having nine inches or a foot of strong, rich loam in 

 their bottom, and filled to the depth of a foot or eighteen inches with 

 water, which should be occasionally changed. These pans or tubs may 

 be placed on the top of a flue near the light in any warm greenhouse or 

 stove, where there is not a regular Aquarium, and in such situations they 

 will flower freely. 



The genus Nymphcea, having tuberous roots, should be examined an- 

 nually in autumn, the small ones removed, and the larger ones kept for 

 flowering ; these roots should be planted in small pots of the size called 

 large sixties, one root in each, and kept dormant till spring by being 

 kept rather dry. In ^larch they should be forced into a vegetating state 

 by the apphcation of water and a httle degree of heat, and as soon as 

 they have sprung about half an inch should be planted either into the 

 bottom of the cistern in the Aquarium, or into deep pans or tubs, in a 

 rich, light, loamy soil, to be placed near the light in the plant stove. The 

 full depth of water should not be let upon them at first : a few inches 

 only over their roots is sufficient, but as they extend in growth add more 

 water progressively until the vessel containing them be full. When the 

 Nymphseas begin to vegetate, care must be taken that they experience no 

 check in theu' growth either by a diminished supply of water or heat, or 

 other causes ; for if such be the case they will not flower, but form bulbs 

 at the root instead. They should, if in a proper condition, show flowers 

 in about a month or five vreeks after planting, and if so will continue in 

 flower most of the season. As soon as the plants have done flowering, 

 and have perfected their seeds, they die down to the bottom, and form 

 bulbs in the soil in which they ai'e planted. It is at this period that the 



