3IO AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS August, 1907 



Hampshire makes it a sketching 

 ground for her work in water colors. 



Some forty years ago Mr. E. D. 

 Sturtevant settled in Bordentown, 

 N. J., and remained there until 1889, 

 when he removed to Holly Wood, 

 California. Mr. Sturtevant was a 

 Horist, much Interested in the growth 

 ol: aquatics, and known as the father 

 of water-garden culture. He rented 

 a pond for the purpose of propagating 

 the Egyptian lotus for sale, also to 

 prove that they are hardy in this cli- 

 mate. He was successful, far beyond 

 his expectations, until the mill was 

 burned and the water drawn off, when 

 the plants perished. 



In his florist's yard in the center of 

 the town, Mr. Sturtevant had an arti- 

 ficial tank for the culture of the Vic- 

 toria regia. I visited this in 1882, 

 with a group of young people from the 

 Bordentown Female College. We 

 viewed it in the evening (when it was 

 a doubly fascinating sight, height- 

 ened by the shadows cast by an old- 

 fashioned lantern), the magnificent 

 blooms rearing their white waxen 



heads above the water. I'his garden has been removed to 

 California. 



The water gardens noted in this article are but types, and 

 very interesting and beautiful types of many such gardens 

 that have been successfully cultivated in many parts of 

 America. They show not only how highly interesting such 

 plants are, but how readily they may be cultivated and 

 brought to full perfection of maturity. Why a water garden 

 shoiiKl, at any time, have been thought a matter of difficulty, 



The Egyptian Lotus May Be Readily 

 Grown in a Tub 



is one of the mysteries of the modern 

 art of gardening. Nothing is easier 

 than the making of a suitable pond or 

 basin, if one's grounds has no natural 

 stream, and nothing is easier than to 

 grow in such a basin the most beauti- 

 ful of water plants, giving rich and 

 splendid effects with blooms that are 

 equaled by few earth plants. 



No garden of any sort is produced 

 without more or less trouble and labor. 

 The beautiful garden implies and re- 

 quires more or less attention. Even 

 if it be but a small one, there must 

 be more or less personal labor be- 

 stowed upon it. And this labor must 

 be constant and unremittantly ap- 

 plied year after year. It is work that 

 is never done, albeit it yields con- 

 stantly varied delight and interest. 

 Doubtless the water garden seems, to 

 many, to add another quota of labor 

 to the many details most gardens re- 

 quire; it seems, moreover, to require 

 the cultivation of strange and exotic 

 plants, whose methods of growth are 

 unfamiliar and whose successful de- 

 velopment is more or less problemati- 

 cal. As a matter of fact, neither of these propositions is 

 true. The labor involved in making and caring for a water 

 garden is distinctly less than that needed for the cultivation 

 of the ordinary garden, and it is conspicuously true that the 

 cuIti\'ation of the water plants has been demonstrated to be 

 easy and coniplete. The water garden may thus add a new 

 charm to our rural grounds, with quite a minimum of labor 

 and a maximum of effect. These are two ends not to be 

 overlooked in the arrangements of country grounds. 



A Vacation Problem Easily Solved 



By Phebe Westcott Humphreys 



^l^^^^^^^HEN outing funds are low and health or 

 business demands an expensive vacation trip 

 WXxfOx^^^^ older members of the family, the 



QP^^^O^^^ satisfactory disposal of the growing boy be- 

 comes a serious problem for the mother, 

 j^^j^^^q^jj^ The one great desire of his heart — "camp- 

 ing with a lot of fellows" — offers many ad- 

 vantages; good health from outdoor life, active and delight- 

 ful exercise, a closer acquaintance with instructive nature; 

 but on the other hand it fills the mother heart with dread of 

 possible harm when gunning, deep-water fishing, swimming, 

 and unchaperoned freedom make up the program of daily 

 camp life. 



And what boy would knowingly tolerate a chaperon? 

 Here lies the secret of successfully solving the problem. Let 

 the father or the mother of the most persistent would-be 

 camper sanction the movement, allow him to choose his 

 camping companions, and then make arrangements with the 

 head of each household from which a boy has been chosen, 

 to rent the camp site and supplies on the co-operative plan, 

 and engage a secret chaperon. The expense for this purpose 

 will be very slight when divided among several families. 



The camp site should be located in the mountains or in 

 some quiet farming section, near famous boating and fishing 



grounds; and there will be little difficulty in finding a man 

 from a nearby hotel or farmhouse to act as visiting chaperon 

 — to devote only a portion of his time each day to the boys, 

 while keeping a general supervision over the campers' pas- 

 times and provisions. 



The secret service idea should be carefully guarded. Let 

 the caretaker first appear on the scene as a chance visitor, 

 after tents are pitched, and arouse the enthusiasm of the 

 boys in relating early camping experiences and in the ad- 

 vantages of their surroundings. And while putting up at a 

 hotel or farmhouse let him watch over camp and campers 

 from a distance, appearing to the boys simply as a good 

 chum, who may be depended upon to increase their pleasure 

 in each day's sport. Let him also send regular letters to the 

 parents of the boys that will allay all anxieties that might 

 arise from letters of boyish enthusiasm. Then the parents 

 may travel, or spend their time at a fashionable hotel if 

 desired (where the boys would find it irksome as well as 

 expensive), knowing that their boys are cultivating meth- 

 odical ideas in attending to their own camp cooking and 

 housekeeping and independence in providing daily table sup- 

 plies; and at the same time are having a royal good time in 

 fulfilling the cherished desire of their hearts. It is the most 

 agreeable solution of the vacation problem for boys. 



