The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1877-09-22
Water.Lilies.

Water-Lilies.
Who does not love the beautiful water
lily, the Nympha odoratG of our ponds
and lakes? No one, not even he of whom
the poet said:
A primrose by the rivers brim
A yellow primrose was to him,
| And it was nothing more
could be quite insensible to the charms
of this loveliest of wild flowers. Yet
those who have seen it only in those
crowded, half-wilted punches in the veg.
etable markets or in the hands of the en-
terprising urchins on railroad trains
know little of its perfect state. To come
upon it Unexpectedly, holding its snowy
petals proudly open upon the still water
of some sylvan lake, is poetic inspira-
ton. There it breathes its divinest fra
GRANGE. There, enthroned with its com.
panions among its shining green leaves
spread out upon the water, it is an en-
chanting vision. Plucked from its an
chorage at the bottom of the lake, it
soon closes its corolla, as if hiding its
beauty and its sorrow from the eyes of
the captor.
Our pond-lily closely resembles the
lotus, the Nympha lotus of Egypt, Syria
and other countries of the East, which
has been venerated in all times, and
figures extensively in Egyptian hero
glyphics, besides forming the model for
the capital of Egyptian columns. An
other, or perhaps the same, species is
held sacred among the Hindoos 1t is
Intimately connected with their religion,
and they give it wonderful origin.
Vishnu, the God of Light, the Preserver,
is represented seated upon the lotus and
holding one of the flowers in his hand
There are two species of the water
! lily in the East-the one mentioned and
the NymphG cgruleG The latter, as the
name implies, is blue and said to be won
derfully beautiful. A blue water-lily!
| What an object to thrill the soul of the
| florist 1t must be rare even in gardens
of acclimatization. Who has ever seen
one? Perhaps it would flourish in some
of our small lakes farther South. 1t
would produce splendid effect growing
with the white water-lily in our ponds.
During the last year or two there have
been paragraphs in our newspapers de-
claring that the pond-lily could be made
to grow in gardens. Most people have
doubted it. Could flower so naturally
wild, so secluded in its loneliness, so fond
of shady hooks and comparatively deep
water, be made to expand its shy petals
and exhale its rare perfume in a vulgar
tub? Yet is it true. Like the nobest
beauty of every kind, it blesses despite
captivity and ignoble surroundings.
Last spring l determined to give the
cultivation of the water-lily trial, and
impressed an old lime hogshead into the
service. This l had sawed through the
middle, and one-half sunk in the ground
at the northeast end of the veranda, I'M
der the rain-spout. Then armed with a
big basket and long rake, two of us
started for the pond, about mile dis
tant, where the lilies grew. Some of the
leaves, as yet all rolled together, were
just peeping from the water.
The process of dragging out the roots
was rather difficult, but eXhilarating.
First, we threw out the long rake, let it
sink, workedit down into the mud as far
as practicable, and then pulled together
with all our strength. At every pull we
brought up long piece of the fleshy
roots with several leaves just sproutng;
but every pull, or rather every yielding
of root, resulted in our sudden sitting
down on the marshy ground with peals
of laughter. This was the exhilarating
part. We placed the roots, with all the
doughty clay adhering, in the basket, and
tugged it home with many pauses for
rest and frequent changing of hands.
The basket seemed freighted with lead,
and the dripping of yellow mud was not
improving to the appearance of shoes
and stockings.
Seeing the kind of bed the lily flour
ished in in the pond, we did not dare
trust the roots to common mold, and
therefore packed the bottom of the tub
foot deep with the common swamp
muck used on the farm. In this we
planted the roots, put in several pals of
cistern-water, and left the rain, already
falling, to do the rest. The next morn
ing the tub was full of the dirtiest-l look
ing liquid imaginable. 1t did not be-
come perfectly clear for several weeks
and then our labor was rewarded by the
sight of numerous little folded leaves,
which soon reached the top and unfolded
their satiny, green surface upon the
water. The smallness of the leaves
troubled me greatly at first, not know
ing that they grow broad after opening.
After patient waiting, and after covering
the tub with quito-netting to disabuse
the young turkeys of the notion that it
was especially designed as a drinking
cup and watery grave for them, and the
young ducks of the notion that it was
preordained for them to swim in, we were
delighted to see veritable lily bud com.
ing up.
At the present moment July 25) the
whole surface of the water is covered
with leaves so large and fresh and beau.
tful that these alone would compensate
for all the trouble taken. The leaves
are quite as large, many of them, as the
largest seen in the wild state, and among
them are two superbly perfect lilies, and
several Others struggling up to the light.
For the winter l shall cover the tub
with boards and a thick layer of straw,
which will keep the water from freezing
much below the surface, and, | trust,
preserve the precious roots at the bottom.
A little visitor from Philadelphia,
whose grand passion is collecting turtles,
Il i g.I