BUDS. BLOSSOMS, FRUITS. 



619 



hillsides, marshes and waters for study and pleasure, 

 that would require miles of travel and days of time to 

 search out. We may also add to our botanical treasures 

 glow-worms, golden beetles and other entomological gems 

 to enliven the scene, and to delight the birds which come 

 to drink and bathe. The alighting of a wild wood-duck 

 last summer we regarded as a compliment to our skill in 

 landscape-gardening. During the five months previous 

 to last December a deficiency of over four inches in rain- 

 fall occurred, and, as the pump could only supply the 

 house, we were obliged to draw upon the pool for our 

 stock and plants. Others were compelled to draw water 

 with teams. — R. Bingham. 



A Pit for Wintering Plants. — It is a cause of consider- 

 able regret to many lovers of plants and flowers that 

 at the end of each summer season, because they have no 

 suitable place to keep them over winter, they are com- 

 pelled either to take up tender plants out of the flower- 

 beds and throw them away, or else leave them in the 

 ground to be killed by frost. In order to winter my 

 plants over without great expense for heating a house, I 

 concluded to construct a pit for this purpose. An exca- 

 vation about 5 feet deep and 10 feet long by 8 feet wide 

 was made. It was lined on the inside with ordinary inch- 

 board, and "banked-up" on the outside about 3 feet at the 

 back and lyi feet in front, giving the sashes an 18-inch 

 slope to the south. For two years I have kept my plants 

 in this pit without any artificial heat whatever. During 

 cold nights common rough boards are placed over the 

 sashes to serve the purpose of shutters. Th^y keep out 

 the cold, and the pit will retain the heat of a sunny day 

 for a considerable time. The temperature of the pit 

 seldom gets below 50°, and ordinarily 

 would be nearer 60°. I keep in this pit 

 quite a variety of plants, including 

 several kinds of winter-blooming roses, 

 geraniums, chrysanthemums, h e 1 i o - 

 tropes, violets, cacti, coleus, fuchsias, etc. 

 It is a fine place for hyacinths, tulips, 

 freesias and almost any kinds of bulbs. 

 By the time chrysanthemums have 

 finished blooming, usually about Feb- 

 ruary 14, mine being late varieties, 

 bulbs are ready to begin blooming. We 

 have rarely ever been without flowers 

 from November until May. As soon as 

 the pit was completed, I planted a 

 Marchiel Niel rose in rich soil on the 

 ground floor. The plant is now taking 

 possession of the place, and has already 

 given us a large number of fine buds. 

 Last winter, while trying to raise some 

 tender plants, I heated the pit with a 

 small coal-oil stove. This keeps up a temperature of 

 about 60° at night, and the cost is very trifling. I have 

 been amply repaid for it by the number of coleus, roses, 

 etc., which I have propagated since I began using it. 

 The slight expense incurred in heating the pit may also 

 be more than covered by propagating a few varieties of 



plants from cuttings, or raising some from seed and 

 selling them in spring. A great number of ordinary 

 garden plants take root readily from cuttings planted in 

 pits, as the moist atmosphere seems to suit them well. — 

 T. , Kentucky. 



A City Lily Tank.— In the diagram and photograph 

 given on this page and the next some idea of the beauty 

 and arrangement of our lily-tank, planned and started last 

 year, is given. It was bright with flowers and foliage 

 from the last of July until the middle of October. The 

 tank is 8 X 16 feet and -zYz feet deep. The sides and 

 bottom are 4 inches thick, built of brick, and cemented 

 inside. Over the tank I had constructed a three-quarter 

 span-roof, the short span of wood and the long one of 

 sashes. It is made in sections andean easily be removed. 

 The lilies are grown in tubs, halves of kerosene-barrels 

 and oil-casks. At the approach of cold weather the water 

 is drawn off, and the tubs are moved up to one end, 

 leaving space for the storage of chrysanthemums, cannas, 

 caladiums, and other roots and half-hardy plants. By 

 heaping seaweed around the sides and covering the sashes 

 with straw mats, I kept frost out when the thermometer 

 touched zero last winter. The tank is filled by means of 

 a hose attached to the house supply-pipe, and water is 

 allowed to run in when the hot-air pump is working, the 

 overflow finding its way into the surrounding bed through 

 small holes left in the top of the rear wall of the tank. 

 This overflow is a very good feature ; it keeps the bed 

 always moist through a very dry season. The Japanese 

 iris seemed to be especially benefited by it, for plants in 

 this bed gave magnificent flowers, while in another bed 

 they scarcely bloomed at all. The soil used for all the 

 H O u S E 



EA Eichhort 



ECM Eichhor, 



NS Nelumbi. 



NO Nympha 



NOR Nymfhan 



NAC Nymphx 



Diagram of a City Lily-Tank. 



I pyg^mma. 



NP Nympha 



NZ Nymp/iaea 



CS Lyperus si 



LI Limnanth 



LH Limnocha 



•ibarensis, different colors. 



water-plants was composed of two-thirds well-rotted 

 manure and leaf-mold and one-third ordinary garden soil. 

 The most satisfactory plants for a small space are 

 Nyijiphaa alba candidissiina and the tiny XympJicea 

 pygmica, both profuse bloomers through the whole 

 season. The common pond-lily and its pink variety 



