WATER 



LILIES. 



NEW ORLEANS LILY POND. 

 The engraving (see frontispiece) 

 shows a fish pond of water lilies 

 in the grounds of Dr. T. G. Rich- 

 ardson, of New Orleans. The pond 

 is forty feet wide. Its chief oc- 

 cupant is Victoria regia, five large 

 leaves of which are shown in the 

 engraving. One flower, just opening, is seen on the furth- 

 er side of the pond, in the center. The flower bud to the 

 left \s Nynnphxa Dcvoniensis, and the two fully expanded 

 flowers are N. Zimzihariensis. The pond also contains 

 N. odorata, a nelumbium or two, limnocharis, Pontederia 

 crassipes and Trapa natans. Mr. Roedder, the gardener, 

 writes that the victoria was grown from seed sown the 

 5th of April without artificial heat, and by September 

 22d three large flowers, from 12 to 16 inches in diameter 

 had opened, and the leaves had attained a diameter of 

 five feet. The first flower opened August 18 and was 

 witnessed by about 5,000 people. 



Various Water Lilies. — Not many years ago these 

 interesting water loving flowers were rare, and only such 

 places as public parks and conservatories could boast of 

 them. Most of the rarest kinds were until recently 

 comparatively unknown to the common cultivator of 

 flowers. The common white water lily [Nymplicra 

 odorata) was known and loved, it is true, but the pink 

 Cape Cod variety, the large white English lily and the 

 different kinds of nelumbiums or lotus are of recent 

 introduction to common gardens. 



If people would know how easily lilies can be culti- 

 vated, every one who loves flowers would set a tub in 

 his yard and secure flowers from May till September. 

 The lotuses are particularly adapted to tub cultivation. 

 I placed several tubers of the Egyptian lotus {A^elumbiuvi 

 speciosuni) in a half-hogshead last spring, and they grew 

 so rapidly and produced such an abundance of noble 

 leaves that they were the wonder and admiration of all 

 who saw them. They produced the finest flowers that 

 can be imagined. On July 7 the first flower-stalk 

 appeared and afterward new ones appeared in success- 

 ion. The lotus requires a rich soil of muck mixed with 

 a goodly portion of cow manure. I have also found the 

 soil of meadow land or soil of fish ponds an excellent 

 article for lily culture. They are great feeders, and no 

 soil can be made too rich for them. If rich compost 

 cannot be obtained, a very good substitute can be formed 

 by taking common garden soil and fresh cow dung, each 

 quantity alike, and thoroughly mixed. Fill the tub to 

 within six inches of the top and plant the tubers of lotus 

 or lily in this soil and afterward fill up with water. 



Sand or gravel should be placed on the tubers to keep 

 them from rising on top of the water. This is practically 



the only thing necessary to be done, except to keep the 

 tub filled with water. The water need not be changed 

 the whole summer as the leaves and stems keep the 

 water pure. The easiest, and certainly the best place 

 in which to grow lilies of almost every kind is a natural 

 pond. I have four German carp dams, in each of 

 which I place tubers of the different water plants. The 

 plants and flowers are the attraction of multitudes 

 The plants are very necessary to the successful carp cul- 

 turist. Carp spawn among the noble leaves and are 

 protected by them from birds and other fish-eating 

 animals. Some consider the pink lotus the par excel" 

 lence of lotuses, but the yellow is certainly an excellent 

 plant and flower. 



The white large-flowered lotus grew finely last sum- 

 mer in my natural pond. The roseum or red flowered 

 variety produces rather the most flowers and is also an 

 exceedingly interesting plant. Any one who can scoop 

 out a small mud hole in his meadow can have lotuses or 

 lilies to almost any extent. The large English lily {N. 

 alba, candidissima) is one of the very best water plants, 

 and amateurs can not make a better choice than to 

 choose it. Another choice variety is the Cape Cod pink 

 lily [N. odorata, rosea). — S. H. Fegely, Pennsylvania . 



Water Lilies Under Difficulties. — When we left 

 the farm about twenty years ago, we carried with us an 

 idea of space; in other words we did not want to be 

 crowded, and we did want a view. We made a selec- 

 tion accordingly — a little story and a-half house, 

 with a stretch of country and river up and down the 

 Mohawk. Four acres of as poor and untillable ground 

 as was ever exposed to rain and dew came with it. 

 With an underlying limestone rock, without shade or 

 tree or shrub, the stinted and sickly native grass, with 

 only an inch of soil to nourish and sustain it, paled in 

 early June and curled and crisped under a July sun. 

 Cattle driven to and from the pasture wandered over it, 

 and boys, both great and small, lolled or played ball on 

 its irregular rocky surface. The deed covered this, and 

 one other thing — a spring or springs of water located 

 about a quarter of a mile distant on a neighboring hill. 

 We were happy in possession and commenced, in the 

 spring following the purchase, to take out the rock. 

 The rock to the depth of four or more feet was removed 

 and soil filled in its place, the little pond laid out, the 

 trees planted around the pond, but the space in front of 

 the house was left for the uninterrupted view. A line 

 of pipes leading up to the springs on the hill, where an 

 artesian well was put down, gives a never ending flow of 

 water and adds a grace with fountain spray and rippled 

 surface. No landscape gardener ever gave a suggest- 

 ion, only a woman who had a love for nature, and a de- 

 sire to imitate her, by making the waste places to bios- 



