December 23, 1899. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
259 
VEITCH'S GENUINE SEEDS. 
JAMES VEITCH & SONS, Ltd., 
BEG TO ANNOUNCE THAT THEIR 
SEED CATALOGUE FOR 1900 
Has now been Posted to all their Customers; any one not having received the same, a Duplicate Copy will immediately be forwarded, 
Post Free, on application. 
Royal Exotic Nursery, CHELSEA, LONDON, S.W. 
LILIES! LILIES!! LILIES!!! 
Special Offer of 
JAPANESE LILIES, 
Lilium auratum, magnificent bulbs, 9/-, 6/-, and 4/-per 
dcz, 
Lilium longiflorum, magnificent bulbs, 3/6 and 2/6 per 
doz. 
Lilium longiflorum eximium, magnificent bulbs, 6/- 
per doz. 
Lilium longiflorum giganteum, magnificent bulbs, 
61 - per doz. 
Lilium speciosum album Kraetzerii, 6/- and 4/- 
per doz. 
Lilium speciosum rubrum, 6/- and 4/- per doz. 
Lilium lancifolium album, 5/- per doz. 
H. A. TRACY, F.R.H.S,, 
Orchid & Lily Importer, 
AMY AND PARK ROAD, TWICKENHAM 
ORCHIDS. 
Glean Healthy Plants at Low Prices. 
iiways worth a visit of inspection. Kindly send for Catalogue, 
JAMES CYPHER, 
Exotic tasries. CHELTENHAM. 
‘ Gardening is the purest of human pleasures, and the greatest 
refreshment to the spirit of man.”— Bacon. 
Edited by J. FRASER, F.L.S. 
SATURDAY , DECEMBER 2yd, 1899. 
Possibility of Naturalising Marliac’s 
& Hybrid Water Lilies. — In the 
vicinity of London at least the Water 
Lilies in the Thames and its tributaries, so 
far as they are exposed to the public, have 
been undergoing a process of extermina¬ 
tion. If they were to ripen seeds freely 
one would expect that the flowers which 
escape being gathered, would soon replenish 
the annual loss that occurs. This does not 
seem to be the case; and possibly, the 
young seedlings, if any, have a difficulty in 
establishing themselves at the depth where 
the old plants grow. The Yellow Water 
Lily is more persistent than the White one, 
probably owing to the fact that when once 
it has obtained a footing in the bed c-f the 
rivers, it can live entirely under water, as 
the green leaves can be seen in abundance 
when the water is clear. Flowers frequently 
rise above the water on long stalks, and 
possibly a fair percentage of seeds is 
ripened. Even in the absence of seeds, 
however, the parent stools could spread 
and multiply fairly rapidly by means of 
their stout, fleshy, creeping rhizomes 
anchored in the mud and gravel. 
It may not be possible to establish or 
naturalise Marliac’s hybrid Water Lilies in 
places to which the public is freely admitted, 
and without restraint at all times ; but in 
public parks and gardens, looked after by 
the custodians of order and the interests of 
communities, there seems no reason why 
these Water Lilies should not be the com¬ 
monest of aquatic plants in all the. orna¬ 
mental sheets of water not overrun with 
swans and other large birds, nor frequented 
by pleasure boats. This has been suggested 
to us by the presence of hundreds, possibly 
thousands, of seedlings in various stages of 
development in a small pond in the open 
air near the glasshouses in the Botanic 
Gardens, Glasgow, where they were pointed 
out to us by Mr. D. Dewar, the curator. 
The circular pond is ot no great depth, 
while the water becomes more shallow as it 
approaches the grassy banks. Many 
varieties of Marliac’s hybrid Water Lilies 
have been planted, including Nymphaea 
Laydekeri rosea, &c. Judging from the 
number of seeds and seedlings produced 
they are perfectly at home in a pond of this 
kind. The seedlings have been strewn 
thickly upon the sloping margins where the 
water is shallow, yet of sufficient depth to 
cover the leaves. No assistance has been 
given them, all being self sown. Other 
aquatics do well in the same pond ; and the 
Water Thyme (Anacharis canadensis), 
having come of its own accord, defies ex¬ 
termination. It is everywhere except under 
the broad leaves of the Water Lilies and 
where the grassy banks dip into the water. 
As the seedlings of the Lilies gain strength, 
they will no doubt extend more and more 
deeply into the water, if left to their own 
resources. A wiser plan, however, would 
be to thin them out and plant the super¬ 
numerary roots elsewhere in the ponds of 
parks and gardens, possibly also on the 
margin of the River Kelvin where the banks 
and the river will permit of its being done. 
The proprietors of private domains might 
also stock their ponds, and also try the 
naturalisation of these Lilies in the natural 
streams and brooks running through their 
grounds. The opinion is gaining ground 
that M. Marliac manages to rapidly in¬ 
crease his stock of new varieties by means 
of seedlings. 
Smerica, a Land of P"ruits.— In Bulletin 
153, of the Cornell University Agri¬ 
cultural Experiment Station, Ithaca, New 
York, Professor L. H. Bailey, in discussing 
“Impressions of our Fruitgrowing In¬ 
dustries,” says that America is a land of 
fruits. He explains why this is so, giving 
five reasons for the same, dilating upon them 
seriatim. The first reason advanced is that 
the agriculture of America is so recent that 
it is not fettered by old prejudices, so that 
the farmer feels free to discard old and un¬ 
profitable enterprises for relatively new and 
profitable ones. Fruit-growing has asserted 
itself over ancient agriculture on account 
of the depression which has prevailed for 
some time past in that industry. The rise 
of fruit-growing has relieved the old-time 
farming, thus benefiting those who left the 
latter and those who remained in it. The 
new industry hasbaen the means of diffusing 
new knowledge amongst and educating the 
people. The author does not think that 
this new business will continue to be the 
more lucrative of the two. 
The second reason advanced is that large 
areas are available for fruit-culture, which 
means that everything is done in a whole¬ 
sale fashion, and can therefore be done 
cheaply ; while the quantity and uniformity 
of the finished article are sufficient to attract 
the market. An instance of this is that 
California is able to drive the fruits of the 
eastern side of America from their own 
markets owing to the greater quantity and 
more uniform supply from the west, and 
thus to control the market. The essentially 
uniform political and social conditions that 
favour the free interchange of ideals and 
methods make the third reason. The 
author states that in Europe the various 
small fruit-growing centres are the outcome 
of local effort and tradition. Different 
races, languages, political systems, and 
physiographies all tend to hamper a great 
extent of fruit-culture on this side of the 
Atlantic. Uniformity of methods is im¬ 
possible. To us these barriers would seem 
to be more visionary than real. The ques¬ 
tion of language is also advanced as against 
Europeans. Except in the small acreage 
of the territories available for the extensive 
cultivation of fruits on the Continent, all 
the other barriers mentioned break down. 
All the countries of Europe who have got 
anything to sell are anxious to do business 
with us, neither politics nor language pre¬ 
senting any difficulty on that score, while 
their methods are often admirable compared 
with ours. Education on the Continent 
also enables business people to speak 
several languages, if it is worth the while 
acquiring them from a business point of 
view. The fourth reason for the heading 
of these notes is that the climate of North 
America is congenial to fruits ; and the fifth 
is that the American farmer get-; more help 
from teachers and experimenters than his 
brother in trade in any other country. 
With the two latter reasons we are in entire 
agreement. 
