‘Ih* RURAL NEW-YORKER 
357 
Growing, Water Lilies on the Farm 
A CHARMING GROUP. —If you 
would have fun and comfort from 
flowers, choose willing plants; those 
which require much time cannot appeal 
to (he busy person. Water lilies will 
grow wherever there is sunlight, and 
they ask almost nothing of you in the 
wav of care. No other plant will give 
you so much in return, and still he 
enough of a novelty to fascinate you. 
How often we covet what we cannot 
have, when the possession of a few 
of the right sort of things, easily 
adapted to our surroundings, can give 
us more pleasure than the most elab¬ 
orate details requiring time, care and 
money ! One plant in a tin can. placed 
where it can easily he seen, may give a 
busy' person more pleasure than a 
whole acre of lawn and garden may 
give to another. Many farmhouses need 
the attractions that give the “homey” 
appearance to a mere house. Water 
lilies will always be a delight to your 
visitors as well as to you. Most people 
are surprised when they first see the 
red. yellow, or blue lilies, though the 
common white pond lily. Nympluea 
odorata. is well known. No other 
plants offer so great a variety of color.- 
and appear so delicate. l>r. Bailey apt¬ 
ly says this plant family has no poor re¬ 
lations; each one is perfect in itself. 
NATURAL PONDS.—The three re¬ 
quisites for water lilies are a good rich 
soil, water, plenty of sunlight. In na¬ 
ture they grow in-shallow places near 
the shore of a lake, in the sluggish 
Part ot a stream, or wherever the water 
is tpiiet. A low place on the farm. then. 
■which is otherwise an eyesore, mav he 
transformed to a beautiful spot, if it 
can he made to hold two feet of water. 
Merely an additional excavation is all 
that is sometimes necessary. On the’ 
nursery grounds of Mr. A. S. Buskirk. 
near Cleveland, Ohio, we have seen a 
number of attractive ponds made by 
puddling the natural clay to hold wa¬ 
ter. A spring forms the source of water 
supply, and fills the first pond, where 
the cold water becomes warm enough 
to he more welcome to the lily plants. 
Each pond is slightly lower than the 
preceding one, so the water can flow 
through drains from one to the other. 
P*y means of this simple arrangement 
he has raised some of the most beauti¬ 
ful water lilies in the country, adding 
pends only as his fancy and needs may 
dictate. Pools lined with day are the 
most economical in construction, though 
practical only where there is available 
heavy day. it isn’t necessary that 
the ground in which the basin is dug 
be a heavy clay, but only that there be 
a layer of puddled clay, about four 
inches thick, over the. bottom of the 
pond. If it is not easy to get the clay, 
it will be cheaper to make a water¬ 
tight lining by covering a layer of cin¬ 
ders. stones or bricks with concrete, 
and finishing with a couple of inches 
of cement and fine sand. These pools 
should he made about two feet deep, 
wlu'ii finished, and should slope up to 
the edges rather gently. Good soil can 
overlap down to the water level, so that 
grass and other plants can make a 
• pica sing border. It is easy to tap or 
dam a small stream to make a water 
garden, but great care must be taken 
that iu times of flood the excess water 
can be diverted! 
LILIES IN 1 I RS.—If you prefer 
1" make tubs or half-barrels the basis of your first 
aiiuatic garden, this is the simplest form of urti- 
tici.al pond. There are a number of satisfactory 
varieties ot wafer lilies that can be grown in a small 
si nce. The tub or half-barrel should be at last US in. 
deep, filled two-thirds full of rich soil, and sunk in the 
A (loud Example of Natural Aquatic Planting. Fig. 162 
A Farm Lily Pond. Fig. 163 
llardg Climbing Hose Silver Moon. Fig. J61 f 
ground to the top, or nearly so. Later if you would 
increase your collection of plants, more tubs can be 
added to form a design. Each tub will hold one 
plant, and care should lie taken that one of the 
smaller growing varieties is chosen. Pygnuea. white; 
Pygmsea helvola, yellow; William Doogue and Helen 
Fowler, pink; Laydekeri lilacea and 
purpurea, shades of lavender, and Au¬ 
rora. turning from deep yellow to 
rose, are varieties which will make a 
healthy growth, and still not become 
too large to be suitable for tub cul¬ 
ture. The prices of these varieties 
range from $1 to ,$1.50 each. Remem¬ 
ber three things; the tub must he in 
the sunlight; the water should not bp 
changed, only replenished, as cold wa¬ 
ter harms the plant; under an eaves- 
spont is a bad location, because the 
force of the water will ruin the plant 
CONCRETE POOLS. —A cement 
Pool, although somewhat elaborate iu 
construction, will lie the most perma¬ 
nently satisfactory artificial pond. This 
need not necessarily he a large formal 
pool, but may be as small as four feet 
across. The strength of the construc¬ 
tion will depend upon the size: all ex¬ 
cept the very smallest ones will require 
wooden forms, and should be reinforced 
by iron and wire. If properly made, it 
will need little' attention from year to 
year, and will make a neat setting for 
the water lilies and other aquatic 
plants. It is most convenient and prac¬ 
tical in this case to place the plants in 
separate receptacles tilled with soil, 
that can he set on the bottom of the 
pond and moved at will. The best con¬ 
tainers are wooden boxes. They should 
be about two feet square for one plant. 
If the pool is dee]i enough, a large tile 
will be suitable. 
CULTURAL DIRECTIONS.- Wafer 
lilies are really easy to grow. They 
take care of themselves. The natural 
soil for them contains much decayed 
vegetable matter, and is always rich, 
therefore, use the best soil on your 
farm and add to it, about one-third of 
ve1l-r.(>Nrd cow manure. If you use 
other kinds of fertilizers, apply them 
in proportion to their strength. Upon 
flu 1 soil depends the amount of growth 
of the lily plant and the number of 
flowers. Put at least a foot of this 
good soil into the tub or the box that 
is to contain the root. When the water 
lily root is received by you. it will be 
well ]nicked in wet moss. Plant it at 
once so that the crown (that part from 
which the leaves come) is level with 
the soil. An inch of pebbles over the 
dirt will prevent discoloration of the 
water. Never change the water en¬ 
tirely. as tlm lilies demand warmth; 
the chill of the fresh water will retard 
their growth. Of course enough should 
be added to equalize evaporation and 
keep an even depth of from 6 to 18 in. 
above the crown of the plant. 
CHOICE OF VARIETIES. — From 
several original water lilies, native to 
different parts of the world, many won¬ 
derful varieties have been produced. 
These are being grown commercially in 
large quantities by only a few firms. It 
will pay you to buy from a reliable 
grower, because the variety cannot be 
identified from the root, and cheap sub¬ 
stitutions can easily be made. Booklets 
and catalogues devoted entirely to wa¬ 
ter lilies and aquatic plants are issued 
by dealers, such booklets describing ac¬ 
curately the different varieties and 
their adaptability, so that from them 
you can readily make your choice of 
color, of flower, and price.' Gladston- 
iana and Richardsonii are, we think, 
the best white water lilies; Marliacea 
chromatella and Odorata sulphurea are 
the best yellows; Mary, Marliacea rosea. W. B. Shaw 
and Eugenia do Land, the best pinks. Sioux and 
Paid II a riot are good examples of tbe bronze lily; 
the color of the flower the first day is a deep yellow, 
which changes to a shade of rod on succeeding days, 
the red-flowering plants are more expensive, but, as 
