122 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
August  8,  1896. 
appeared  simply  to  endeavour  to  steer  an  even  keel  and  do  what 
was  right  according  to  the  light  of  his  experience  ;  and  if  he 
had  gone  very  far,  or  very  often,  wrong  he  could  not  possibly 
have  held  his,  at  times,  difficult  position  for  so  many  years, 
nor  have  received,  as  he  did  not  long  ago,  one  of  the  Veitch 
Memorial  medals  at  the  hands  of  Sir  Trevor  Lawrence  in  public 
at  one  of  the  Temple  Shows  for  long,  faithful,  and  efficient 
service. 
We  know  not  the  particular  reason  for  Mr.  Barron’s  retirement, 
nor  does  it  matter  ;  it  is  enough  to  believe  that  the  step  has  been 
taken  with  the  kindest  intentions  towards  him,  and  that  everything 
pertaining  thereto  has  been  done  in  the  most  friendly  manner 
possible.  It  may  be  supposed  there  are  projected  changes  in  the 
Chiswick  routine,  and  if  it  should  happen  that  these  will  be  more 
of  a  scientific  than  a  practical  and  commercial  character  we  can 
understand  that  they  would  not  be  quite  so  congenial  to  him  as 
the  methods  to  which  he  has  for  so  long  been  accustomed,  and  in 
that  case  his  release  from  duty  and  responsibility,  under  favourable 
conditions,  will  be  decidedly  to  his  advantage.  We  believe  it  will 
be  so,  and  as  the  Society  is  now  in  a  position  to  conduct  experi¬ 
ments  at  Chiswick  with  less  regard  to  commercial  considerations 
we  shall  trust  to  see  the  reputation,  of  the  Gardens  fully  main¬ 
tained  in  the  interests  alike  of  horticulture  and  the  Royal  Horti¬ 
cultural  Society. 
Mr.  Barron  will  now  have  the  leisure  to  which  he  is  entitled  by 
long  service  to  devote  fuller  attention  to  the  Royal  Gardeners’ 
Orphan  Fund,  for  which  he  has  done  so  much  ;  to  visit  exhibitions 
in  the  capacity  of  judge,  for  which  duty  he  is  so  competent,  while 
he  will  be  at  liberty  to  give  advice  to  many  from  whom  it  is  sought 
on  various  matters  of  gardening.  We  do  not  know  whether  it  may 
be  practicable  or  not  to  give  him  a  seat  on  the  Fruit  and  Vegetable 
Comnqittee  ;  but  if  it  is  his  experience  would  certainly  be  helpful, 
while  he  would  be  welcomed  by  many  friends  with  whom  he  has 
been  so  long  and  pleasantly  associated. 
WATER  AND  WATER  LILIES. 
A  TASTE  for  aquatic  gardening  seems  to  be  rapidly  spreading 
among  owners  and  managers  of  gardens  alike.  This  is  scarcely 
to  be  wondered  at,  seeing  how  greatly  “  water  gardening”  adds  to 
the  charm  and  interest  of  the  grounds  ;  indeed,  no  garden  of 
pretension  can  be  considered  complete  without  its  stretch  of  water 
or  its  silvery  stream.  In  many  instances  Nature  has  done  much 
toward  the  production  of  the  desired  effect,  for  it  is  no  uncommon 
occurrence  to  find  some  meandering  stream  or  shallow  river  pursue 
its  course  among  the  rich  verdure  of  a  well-wooded  English  park, 
or  even  to  approach  quite  closely  to  the  walls  of  some  quaint  old 
castle  ;  while  in  other  cases  the  smooth  water  of  a  natural  lake 
may  be  seen  from  the  windows  of  the  mansion.  Where  Nature 
has  done  none  of  these  things  it  is  desirable  that  Art  should  step  in 
and  supply  the  deficiency. 
Lakes  of  almost  any  conceivable  size  may  easily  be  formed 
when  the  necessary  funds  are  at  command,  and  with  skill  and  care 
in  planting  both  banks  and  water  surfaces  made  bright  with  flowers 
of  many  hues.  Then  again,  in  some  corner  of  the  wild  garden 
may  be  found  perhaps  a  deep  shady  *dell,  rugged  or  unsightly 
banks  ;  if  so,  what  a  delightful  feature  may  be  created  by  the  aid 
of  artificial  rockwork,  arranged  so  as  to  form  dripping  wells,  pools, 
ponds,  streams,  and  waterfalls — quite  counterfeits  of  some  of  those 
enchanting  scenes  to  be  met  with  in  “gallant  little  Wales.” 
To  give  the  finishing  touch  of  beauty  to  water  scenes  Water 
Lilies  are  indispensable.  The  common  white  and  yellow  so 
frequently  seen  in  British  ponds  and  rivers  are  extremely  pretty, 
but  they  are  quite  outdistanced  in  point  of  beauty  and  attractive¬ 
ness  by  the  splendid  continental-raised  hybrids  which  are  now 
being  freely  planted.  Two  years  ago  I  planted  several  varieties 
in  a  pond  surrounded  with  rockwork.  The  majority  of  these 
have  grown  into  strong  plants,  which  are  now  flowering  freely,  and 
in  point  of  colour  and  attractiveness  few  flowers  can  equal  them. 
The  pond  in  which  they  are  growing  has  a  concrete  bottom,  and  a 
depth  of  water  ranging  from  2  to  2  j  feet. 
Some  growers,  I  believe,  plant  their  Lilies  in  large  pots  and 
then  plunge  them  in  the  water,  but  I  thought,  after  due  considera¬ 
tion,  that  the  more  natural  plan  of  planting  out  should  be  the 
better  one,  because  the  water  would  be  continually  circulating 
through  the  soil  in  which  the  Lilies  were  growing.  I  therefore 
prepared  stations  in  the  following  way : — Heavy  stones  were  laid 
upon  each  other  so  as  to  form  a  wall  enclosing  a  circular  space 
large  enough  to  hold  a  peck  or  more  of  soil,  a  few  pieces  of  soft 
stone  were  placed  in  the  bottom,  and  the  remaining  space  filled  up 
with  prepared  compost.  This  was  quite  a  simple  mixture,  being 
good  turfy  loam  with  a  fourth  of  manure  added.  The  Lilies  were 
then  planted,  and  the  water  let  into  the  pond.  This  was  done  at 
the  end  of  April,  1894,  and  no  soil  has  been  added  since,  but  the 
plants  are  very  much  stronger  this  year  than  last.  In  natural 
ponds,  shallbw  lakes  or  rivers,  these  hybrid  Lilies  would,  I  think, 
grow  very  strongly  and  increase  rapidly.  Some  of  the  varieties 
are  reported  not  to  be  hardy,  but  those  which  we  have  have 
certainly  been  severely  tested,  for  the  last  two  winters  must  have 
killed  anything  but  perfectly  hardy  plants,  yet  the  varieties  I  name 
below  were  quite  uninjured  by  frost  when  growing  in  2  feet  of 
water,  and  I  believe  they  would  have  been  quite  safe  if  the  depth 
of  water  had  been  G  inches  less. 
One  of  the  most  beautiful  is  Nymphasa  Laydekeri  rosea.  This 
flowers  very  freely.  The  colour  is  bright  rose,  and  the  flowers 
considerably  larger  than  those  of  the  common  white  Water  Lily. 
N.  Marliacea  rosea  is  a  very  strong  grower,  but  does  not  flower 
quite  so  freely  as  the  preceding  one.  N.  Marliacea  carnea  with  us 
is  a  much  weaker  grower,  and  has  not  yet  flowered,  though  buds 
are  just  visible.  Odorata  alba  is  too  well  known  to  need  descrip¬ 
tion,  but  odorata  rosea  is  not.  I  will  therefore  mention  that  its 
colour  is  quite  a  pale  rose  ;  both  are  good  growers.  Odorata 
exquisita  has  much  smaller  leaves  than  the  last  named,  and,  writing 
from  memory,  I  think  the  flower  we  had  of  it  last  year  was  white. 
N.  pygmsea  alba  is  the  most  floriferous  variety  we  have,  and,  as  its 
name  implies,  the  flowers  are  comparatively  small ;  they  have, 
however,  a  singular  charm  of  their  own. 
Those  varieties  which  are  described  above  as  strong  growers 
seem  to  have  the  power  of  increasing  very  fast.  They  will,  there¬ 
fore,  be  extremely  useful  for  planting  in  ponds  where  the  white 
one  is  already  established.  It  would  be  useless  to  plant  any  but 
strong  growers  in  such  positions,  because  the  established  plants 
would  quickly  overrun  them  ;  and  even  with  strong  growing  kinds 
the  precaution  should  be  taken  of  clearing  out  the  established  roots 
for  a  few  feet  around  the  newly  planted  ones.  In  small  ponds 
situated  in  the  ornamental  grounds,  where  they  are  constantly  under 
the  gardener’s  eye,  any  varieties  might  be  planted,  as  it  would  be 
easy  to  give  the  attention  necessary  to  keep  the  stronger  growing 
kinds  from  overgrowing  the  weaker  ones. 
When  planting  in  ponds  or  streams  where  the  water  cannot  he 
drawn  off,  it  is  necessary  to  use  strong  baskets  or  crates  about  a  foot 
or  18  inches  in  depth.  Fill  these  about  two-thirds  full  of  any  good 
loamy  soil,  plant  the  Lilies,  then  cover  the  surface  of  the  soil  with 
heavy  stones,  made  secure  by  string  or  wire.  A  few  stones  should 
also  be  fastened  to  the  outer  sides  to  keep  the  baskets  in  an  upright 
position  while  they  are  sinking.  In  streams  where  the  currents 
are  strong  in  times  of  flood,  I  And  it  is  necessary  to  drive  a  couple 
of  strong  stakes  through  the  baskets  into  the  bed  of  the  stream  to 
prevent  the  baskets  being  washed  away.  In  choosing  positions 
for  planting  Lilies  give  preference  to  those  where  there  is  a  good 
depth  of  mud  and  where  the  water  is  not  more  than  3  or  4  feet 
deep.  If  planted  in  a  rather  swift  running  stream,  choose  positions 
near  the  bank,  in  little  bays,  where  the  force  of  the  current  is  less 
than  at  more  prominent  points.  —  H.  Dunkin,  Castle  Gardens, 
Warwick. 
THOUGHTS  IN  SEASON. 
It  seems  natural  when  appreciating  the  beauties  and  benefits 
of  one  season,  for  the  mind  to  wander  almost  unconsciously  to  the 
future — indeed,  in  the  gardener’s  occupation  this  is  necessary,  as 
next  year’s  results  depend  so  much  on  the  efforts  of  this.  The 
refulgent  beauty  of  the  flower  garden,  the  matured  perfection  of 
the  leaves  in  the  forest,  the  portions  of  the  fruit  garden  already 
stripped  of  their  luscious  harvest,  while  the  remainder  is  fast 
approaching  maturity,  together  with  the  kitchen  garden  stocked 
with  vegetables,  are  all  sure  indications  that  summer  has  reached 
its  height,  and  soon — ah  !  perhaps  too  soon — the  first  faint  gleams 
of  the  autumn  will  be  perceptible.  It  is  not,  however,  my 
intention  to  soliloquise  on  the  rapid  flight  of  time,  for  as  seasons 
come  and  go  gardeners  have,  in  dealing  with  the  practical,  little 
time  to  dwell  on  the  sentimental. 
Turn  for  a  moment  to  the  flower  garden,  for  which,  in  spite  of 
the  almost  constant  requisition  of  the  watering  can,  the  season  has 
been  almost  an  ideal  one.  Flower  beds,  indeed,  look  snperb,  and 
weeks  of  tropical  sunshine  have  been  the  means  of  minimising 
