PARK AND CEMETERY. 
331 
wood avenue. By taking advantage of this 
elevation, it would be possible at some fu- 
ture time to carry the parkway across the 
railroad by an overhead bridge at a point 
south of where Jefferson avenue now passes 
under the railroad. The parkway could 
then descend to Valley street, or, what 
would be better, it could continue across 
that street on a viaduct and descend on a 
fill to Kensington terrace. Meanwhile the 
present crossing of Jefferson street under 
the railroad can be used. This section of 
the proposed Circuit Parkway may there- 
fore be considered as ending at Valley 
street. 
The Hilton Parkway section of the pro- 
posed Circuit Parkway would begin at Val- 
ley street, near Jefferson street, and extend 
to Irvington Park. 
The Clinton Parkway section of the pro- 
posed Circuit Parkway would extend from 
Irvington Park to the southwestern corner 
of Weequahic Park. It might follow Lyons 
avenue for a space, then turn south to 
Chancellor avenue and follow that for a 
space, then diverge to the south and follow 
the county boundary to the park entrance 
at Upper Elizabeth avenue. 
Aside from its value as a parkway it 
would be worth as a fire guard a large part 
of what it would cost for land damages to 
lay out a wide parkway consisting of two 
streets and the blocks between, connecting 
Weequahic Park with Branch Brook Park, 
a distance of about 3% miles. 
One of the important considerations in 
planning a city, permitted to be built of 
combustible materials, is to divide it into 
sections by water or strips of unbuilt-over 
land. The Passaic River affords such a 
guard against the spread of fire and con- 
flagrations. As the city grows, the value as 
fire guards of both Weequahic Park and 
Branch Brook Park will increase and, with- 
out the proposed wide parkway connecting 
them, the lack of a fire guard west of the 
business center of the city will become more 
and more lamentable. 
Various other connecting or approach 
parkways, and even parkways whose chief 
benefit would be local, have been suggested 
and urged and some parkways, in addition 
to the main circuit route above indicated, 
unquestionably would be desirable, both for 
the benefit of the county as a whole and 
for that of the localities immediately con- 
cerned. These possible parkways should 
receive careful consideration. The most 
essential portions of some of them should 
be secured with such funds as may become 
available in the near future, leaving the less 
essential though desirable portions for fu- 
ture accomplishment. 
THE CONSTRUCTION OF A WATER GARDEN 
To the uninitiated the cultivation of the 
water lily seems rather difficult. These 
plants bear magnificent flowers, both as to 
size and color, and rather naturally give 
the impression that it requires long ex- 
perience and considerable outlay of money 
to grow them. It is the purpose of this 
article to give some idea of what has been 
done toward the growing of water lilies in 
the Garden this summer, and to encourage, 
if possible, the construction of similar gar- 
dens on a smaller scale in private places. 
Location. — Up to the present year the 
area in the Garden devoted to the growing 
of water plants consisted of six small pools. 
Three of these, formerly located to the 
northwest of the main entrance, were 
wrecked this spring to make room for im- 
provements. The other three, just south 
of the Linnean house, still remain. One of 
these, the central one, is of concrete; the 
other two, one to the east and one to the 
west, are puddled or clay pools. The lat- 
ter, on account of their peculiar form, are 
known as the “Horseshoe Ponds.” The 
west horseshoe pond is used for growing 
the hardy water lilies, while the east one 
is reserved mostly for the growing of seed- 
ling water lilies. The concrete or Victoria 
pond, so called because in it are grown the 
large-leaved Royal or Victoria water lilies, 
is artificially heated in order to provide a 
sufficiently high temperature for these trop- 
ical plants during the cooler months of 
spring. A portion of the old parterre was 
this year converted into a water garden. 
This pool, rectangular in shape, is 70 by 
140 feet, and is the largest single pool in 
St. Louis given over to the growing of 
water lilies. It is this pool that is known 
as the “Water Garden.” To the south of 
this garden and extending along the 
From Bulletin of Missouri Bo- 
tanical Garden, St. Louis, Mo. 
stream are four small pools, known re- 
spectively as pools one, two, three and four. 
Construction . — Pools for the growing of 
water lilies may be made of either con- 
crete or clay. Where the subsoil is clay, 
as is the case generally in this section of 
the country, the latter type of pool is much 
more cheaply constructed and has the ad- 
ditional advantage of appearing more nat- 
ural. However, in cases where the subsoil 
is such that free drainage results, it some- 
times becomes necessary to construct con- 
crete pools. All the new pools made in the 
Garden this spring were built of clay. The 
clay subsoil in the Garden lies only a few 
feet below the surface, so that it was only 
necessary to dig through the surface loam 
to uncover it. When the clay itself was 
reached, a basin with vertical sides was 
dug out two feet deep. After the clay had 
been removed, the basin was refilled with 
one foot of well-mixed soil containing a 
large percentage of cow manure. Finally, 
water was allowed to run in until one foot 
of water covered the foot of good soil. A 
mistake is often made in thinking that lilies 
need nothing but water for their growth, 
but a soil layer for properly feeding the 
plants is just as important. As the plants 
become older the depth of the water can 
be gradually increased by adjusting the 
overflow. Pools constructed in solid clay, 
as above, practically never leak. 
Where a solid clay subsoil is not avail- 
able, a process of puddling is employed. 
This consists, essentially, of plastering the 
sides of the excavation with a layer of 
clay — the addition of water making easy 
the application of the clay. Pools so con- 
structed need very little attention and leak 
but little more than solid clay pools, and 
have an advantage over concrete in that 
they can be enlarged or remodeled at any 
time without much expense. 
The construction of concrete tanks usual- 
ly requires the assistance of a mechanic 
and does not lend itself well to natural 
surroundings. The formal concrete pool 
should not be used except in conjunction 
with other formal surroundings. 
Water Supply . — After the initial filling of 
the pools, it requires but a small stream to 
keep the water fresh and clean. It is nec- 
essary, of course, to prevent scum from 
accumulating on the surface of the water, 
as well as to avoid providing a place for 
the breeding of mosquitoes. If a half-inch 
stream of water be allowed to run slowly 
into the pool, the slight overflow will 
usually carry off any scum which might 
accumulate. If unsightly scum growths ap- 
pear, it may be necessary to add copper 
sulphate in quantity sufficient to poison the 
plants making up the scum, and yet too di- 
lute to harm the lilies. Fish are usually 
introduced into a water garden to keep it 
free from mosquito larvte, although it 
should be remembered that if the pool is in 
an exposed place, subject to the action of 
the wind, there is little danger of its be- 
coming a nuisance, since mosquitoes will 
not breed where the water is rippling. The 
water which supplies the garden pools is 
furnished by a three-quarter inch pipe, 
running very slowly. This is sufficient to 
keep scum from accumulating on the sur- 
face and supplies enough water to make up 
for the loss of evaporation. 
Drainage . — Water garden pools are usual- 
ly located in rather low places, and hence, 
in time of rainy weather, receive the drain- 
age from the adjoining slopes. The small 
pipe which takes care of the normal over- 
