March, 1918 
Ol)£ Slower (Brower 
Water Lilies for Profit. 
[ IV ritten expressly for The Flower Grower. ] 
M RS. AUSTIN in her "Talks” in 
the July, 1916, issue of The Mod- 
ern Gladiolus Grower told us 
about "Lily Bill” and his enterprise in 
transforming a " Swale Through the 
Meadow ” into a beautiful ornament to 
the landscape and incidentally into a 
financial success for "Lily Bill.” There 
are possibilities along this line for 
many locations which are otherwise of 
little or no value from a horticultural 
standpoint. 
We are indebted to Mr. F. P. Clark, 
of Ohio, for some practical information 
on the growing of Water Lilies which 
will be helpful to those who are inter- 
ested in the subject from the stand- 
point of growing for market and the 
illustrations here shown are from pho- 
tographs made by Mr. Clark. 
Water Lilies, according to Mr. Clark, 
do best in 18 to 20 inches of water al- 
though he states that his ponds are 
about two to three feet deep. The 
Egyptian Lotus, which is shown in one 
of the illustrations, does best in only 
10 inches or a foot of water, but the 
soil or mud should be about two feet 
deep. 
For harvesting, Mr. Clark uses an 
edged steel instrument as shown in the 
illustration. This is attached to the 
end of a cane pole 15 to 18 ft. long. 
The crook is hooked onto the stem 
just below the bud, slid down the stem 
15 or 20 inches and a quick wrist move- 
ment cuts the stem. By hooking onto 
the bud it may be swung to the shore. 
Mr. Clark states that he can cut 250 to 
300 in one hour if the wind is not blow- 
ing, but that a beginner is likely to 
make awkward work of it at first. Mr. 
Clark wears hip boots, but states that 
Egyptian Lotus in Mr. Clark’s Ponds. 
27 
if his ponds were deeper he would pre- 
fer a submerged walk in place of a 
boat, owing to difficulty of getting the 
boat into position. 
After cutting, the stems and sepals 
are washed clean of the sediment that 
collects on them when growing, and 
carried to a cool cellar and spread out 
on a layer of damp sphagnum moss 
where they remain until evening. 
Then they are packed in baskets with 
damp moss. Early in the morning 
they are shipped to the florists or com- 
mission houses and they will open up 
as bright as if just cut. 
Mr. Clark says that Water Lilies are 
Steel Cutting Tool to be attached to a 
Cane Pole. 
easy to grow and bring a fair price and 
that he grows several varieties of pink 
and white. Visitors are attracted more 
to the water gardens, he says, than 
even to his half acre of the finest named 
Gladioli. 
We expect to print future articles on 
the subject of Water Lilies and if those 
who have had experience will write us 
with suggestions of a practical nature, 
we will be glad to use such informa- 
tion. 
Forcing Gladioli for Florists. 
Gladioli wanted for a Memorial day crop 
should be planted in benches now It should 
be remembered that pinks and reds sell much 
better than whites at that season. Perhaps 
you want some Gladioli to come along in 
good season outdoors, but have not facilities 
for benching these in your greenhouses. In 
such cases it will pay to start a few dozens 
or hundreds, according to your needs, in 
3 inch pots. Either earthenware or paper 
pots may be used. If you cannot spare green- 
house space, they will do well in a gentle hot- 
bed. A foot of fresh manure, well tramped, 
a layer of fine coal ashes over this, just suf- 
ficiently deep to half plunge the pots, will 
give them an ideal start. They can be grad- 
ually hardened and planted outdoors early in 
May. They will flower two or three weeks 
ahead of the outdoor-planted dormant corms. 
—Florists’ Review. 
Next month we are printing an edi- 
torial by a valued correspondent sug- 
gesting how he was able to turn his 
crop of cut flowers to the benefit of the 
Red Cross. Consider the idea. If you 
have a surplus of cut flowers during 
the coming summer, try and work 
out a plan whereby they can be sold 
for the benefit of the Red Cross. We 
solicit suggestions along this line. 
A. E. Kunderd, Goshen, Ind., sends 
us another Gladiolus freak. It con- 
sists of four hard shell bulblets grown 
together. While double bulblets are 
common, yet the quadruple bulblet is 
a very uncommon freak and it is not 
likely that this will be duplicated for 
some time to come. 
Baskets of Water Lilies as they are brought from the Pond. 
