404 
PARK AND CEMETERY, 
ones in this lovely resting place of the dead. On 
one grave, placed among some boulders near the en- 
trance gate, there had been fresh flowers placed that 
very day, although, as the record showed, the inter- 
ment had been made six years previous. This is, of 
course, nothing more than is seen in almost any cem- 
etery any day, but a good deal of pains had been 
taken on this one. The offering was in the shape 
of two crosses, made of the bark of trees, with hol- 
low centres, which were filled with loveliest cut 
roses. And the little crosses of blue lobelia seen 
here and there, and the tasteful arrangement of 
nature and art everywhere visible, led one to be- 
lieve he was in some secluded garden. 
Joseph Meehan. 
Water Lilies. 
SELECTION OF VARIETIES. 
The sterling worth of these lovely flowers has 
steadily appreciated in all the departments of es- 
thetic and essential horticulture since their first in- 
troduction until to-day they have more and warm- 
er friends than any other of the aristocratic classes 
of plants, orchids not excepted, in America. 
Those familiar with the various kinds of water 
lilies are very careful in the selection of varieties 
adopted to the purpose for which they are intended, 
and for the inexperienced a word of caution is 
not out of place. For lack of due consideration in 
this respeet, the labors of many amateurs have 
resulted in failure and censure was at once 
thrown upon the plants or the florist, the real cause 
not being known. Just so one possessed a water 
lily it was thought sufficient, not knowing that 
there is as wide a difference between the inferior and 
finer sorts of water lillies as there is between the 
common wild or old time annual roses and the up- 
to-date teas. Their qualities are wholly unlike. 
Some are annuals — some ever blooming — some 
are tropical — some temperate — some hardy. Some 
are very free bloomers while others are shy. 
And then while water lilies are wonderfully alike 
in general habits and culture, it is well enough to 
study the special quality of each plant in order to 
obtain perfect results. For example some varieties 
are at home in tubs or small tanks, but worthless 
in ponds, while others, refusing to be cultivated, 
do best in natural ponds. Some varieties are high- 
ly valuable as fish forage but of no importance 
for ornament and with others the reverse is true. 
No general advice that I know of is better than 
this — if you anticipate planting water lilies and are 
not familiar with them, consult some one who is. 
Consider the location and the effect desired, that is. 
whether for economical or ornamental, or both. If 
ornamental, whether specimen plants or general ef- 
fect is desired. It is a good plan to look over the 
catalogues through thelong winter months, and read 
as well the experience of others in the horticultural 
journals, then by spring time you will know more 
definitely what is wanted. 
After a judicious selection of varieties there is 
no other class of plants to be found with which cul- 
ture is so simple or success so eminent.. 
Geo. B. Moulder. 
Water Plants as Land Makers. 
One of the earliest surprises of the writer, on a 
botanical collecting trip, was to enter a wildwood 
on a beaten path, and on returning find a stream of 
some 20 feet wide and of unknown depth right 
across that path. It was his first experience with a 
floating island. The wind had changed, and blew 
the island to the opposite shore! When sand enough 
would be collected from the winds, possibly the is- 
land would sink, and then logs would be found be- 
neath the surface, as White Cedar logs are now 
found below the surface in the bogs of New Jersey. 
How plants prepare the way for such growths, we 
have often had illustrated. “Captain W. A. Shaw,” 
says a Jacksonville, Florida, paper of recent date, 
“of the St. Johns River steamer Everglade, says 
that he has never seen anything like the quan- 
tity of hyacinths as now float in the river between 
Palatka and Astor, and he has been in command of 
a steamer on the river for more than a quarter of a 
century. 
Palatka is the worse choked up point on the 
river, as acres of the water vegetable cover the sur- 
face of the river, and to get through it with the 
steamer is a hard job. The wheels become clogged, 
the bow banked against and it is going ahead and 
backing for hours at a time to make a passage. 
Not only is the river obstructed, but also all the 
creeks between Jacksonville and Palatka. 
Only for the river traffic, these water plants 
would be undisturbed, and in the end, dust and 
sand would grow moss and similar low orders of 
vegetation. On these, seeds of grasses and larger 
plants would be borne by birds and by the wind 
and, rotting, form a thick, peaty surface. Then 
come tree seeds, and the young forest, in time, sink- 
ing by its own weight. But the process again re- 
newed from time to time, the whole would be filled 
up, and a deep peat bed formed, and real land ap- 
pear in due time. Yes, water plants as well as all 
things have an appointed mission to fulfill. — 
Meehans' Monthly for January. 
