ai2 



FRIENDS AND FOES IN THE GARDEN. 



manner as the scales of artichokes. The species culti- 

 vated more than all others together is 



LiLiuM TiGRiNUM. It is propagated either by the 

 axillary bulblets or by the small root-bulblets. The 

 former are first grown one year close together to gain size, 

 and afterward treated like root-bulblets. These are 

 planted in rows two feet apart, and five inches apart in 

 the row. Here they usually remain two years, the flower- 

 stems being destroyed as they appear. In the fall of the 

 second year they are dug and sold. Other species treated 

 in the same way are Lilium auratum, speciosum, 

 Japonicum, Belladonna, lanci'folium, concoloy and 

 Maximo-wiczii. 



Nelumbium speciosum This grand plant is a native 

 of Japan and all the Asiatic tropical and warm temperate 

 countries. Its chief attraction is as an ornamental water- 

 plant, in which sphere it has no rival. The large double 

 sweet-scented flowers, six inches in diameter, rearing 

 their heads above water amongst a dense forest of large 

 dark green leaves, are one of the 

 most charming sights the eye 

 can behold. The moats in To- 

 kio, which were built as a pro- 

 tection to the once famous castle f^- 

 of the Shogun, abound in these 

 flowers. They are also culti- — 

 vated in ponds and pools Pibcb ui Rooi i 



throughout the country. But 



aside from its ornamental features it has a high economic 

 value as a food-plant. The seeds are edible and much 

 prized, and the large-jointed root-stalk furnishes a staple 

 article of diet. It is palatable and nutritious, and is 

 everywhere cultivated. It must be grown in stagnant 

 water, from three to six feel deep, having a muddy bot- 

 tom. This makes it possible to turn marshes and other 

 places that cannot be drained to good account. Ponds 

 suitable for lotus-culture are more valuable than equal 

 areas of rice-land. 



Propagation takes place either by seed or by pieces of 

 root-stalk. The former is usually sown on a seed-bed of 

 mud, and the young plants transplanted when a year old. 

 To insure rapid germination, the seed-coat should be 

 scraped to a thin shell above the germ. If this is neg- 



lected, the seeds, which retain their germinating powers 

 for a long time, may sometimes lie in the mud for several 

 years before they vegetate. The seeds are sometimes 

 packed in balls of clay, and dropped in the water at reg- 

 ular intervals where the plants are wanted. Seedling 

 plants yield their first crop of roots the third year from 

 transplanting. 



Once established, the roots are dug every other year in 

 alternate strips four to five feet in width ; the plants 

 which the first year were left undisturbed spread into 

 the space which was dug, and establish young plants 

 there. The second year the remaining old roots are dug. 

 The root-stalks as seen in the market are two to three 

 feet long, and consist of as many joints. Cut in slices 

 crosswise and boiled in shoyii or water, they are served 

 in various manners, and form a palatable vegetable of a 

 rather mucilaginous nature but without decided flavor. 



Nerine Japonica, Miq. (Atnaryllis Sarniensis, 

 Thunb. ; Lycoris radiata. Herb. ). Wild in moist places, 



Nelumbium speciosum, used for Food in Japan. 



particularly on the small dykes between the rice-fields. 

 In many places it is so abundant that when in flower 

 the meadows are patched with scarlet. In September, 

 some weeks after the leaves have withered, it sends up a 

 scape some nine inches or a foot tall, crowned with an 

 umbel of bright red flowers; petals narrow, stamens 

 longer than petals and pistil longer than stamens. The 

 root is a cluster of bulbs with close layers. Our illustra- 

 tion (page 2ii) is drawn from life, and gives an excellent 

 representation of the flower and bulb. It is said that the 

 bulbs are capable of yielding starch, and it is for that 

 reason classed among the food-plants. It is a showy 

 autumn flower, which is worthy of notice in. this country 

 for ornamental planting. 



C. C. Georgeson. 



FRIENDS AND FOES IN THE GARDEN. 



KNOW THY FRIENDS AND PROTECT THEM. 



TjE NEVER kill an ordinary snake, a toad 

 or lizard, nor do we let anybody else 

 do so if we can prevent it. They all 

 are welcome visitors in our gardens. 

 The greater number of farmers and 

 gardeners seem to act on the supposition 

 that every small animal, bird, reptile or insect is bent on 

 doing mischief and must be killed. It is high time that 

 this universal practice should be stopped. People who 

 thus kill friends and foes alike only harm themselves, 

 and do a favor to some of their worst insect enemies. 



We cannot always draw the lines closely. Birds, 

 snakes, toads, lizards, etc., eat useful as well as noxious 

 insects ; but the latter usually to a much greater extent 

 than the former. It cannot be good policy to destroy any 

 one of these small animals, unless it is positively known 

 to belong to the injurious class. In doubtful cases it will 

 usually be found the best policy to give the accused the 

 benefit of the doubt. 



For several seasons we have employed a few toads 

 regularly as policemen in our hotbeds and coldframes, 

 and have thus enjoyed perfect exemption from insect 



