Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-09-01

Kenilwortb. Aug. 29.-This quiet lit
tie town boasts the biggest water lily
farm in the United States. OF course,
it is run by a woman, and, OF course.
the woman is known as Ihe Lady OF
the Lilies.
Although she is a practical and sue
cessful business woman, it seems ap-
propriate to call Mrs. Helen Fowler
by this poetic name. Romance chngs
naturally to water lilies and to the
people associated with them. Even
the business of growing lilies 5y the
acre and shipping them by the thousand
is tinged with the picturesque.
Imagine the sturdy little woman guid-
ing her boat about the water tlelds
and directing her assistants as tney
pick several thousand lily buds on a
summer morning. Imagine her AGAIN
standing rifle in hand tensely waiting
for the swapping turtle, that deadly
enemy of the water lily. When he
hears no one about, up comes his head
and crack goes the shot Of the expert
That turtle eats no more lines.
Imagine her surrounded by 5000 to
1000 rainbow colored water lilies
one days picking in the height of the
season-busily packing them to be
shipped to points as far as Chicago,
Portland, Me-. and Macon, Ga. with
this sort of thing described as routine
there is no need to hunt for the pic
turesque side of lily farming.
There is little use asking anyone to
visualize the farm itself. 1t is a sort
of water lily heaven. There are broad
pools filled with nothing but delicate
pink water lilies, surrounded by their
odd round leaves and mirrored in the
still water. Other pools are given
over to different varieties.
In a collection of this sort. almost
every corner of the world is represent
ed by some distinctive water lily.
France has sent some of our most
beautiful speciments. Sweden supplied
crimson varieties. Zanzibar. in far-off
Africa. sent deep blue and purple ones;
Mexico and Florida. some of the hest
yellow kinds; South America, the royal
Victoria water lily; while lotuses of va
rious kinds came from Egypt and diff
ferent parts of the Orient.
All these types are raised in this
country now. and occasionally new va
rieties are evolved. There are 10 diff
ferent kinds of water lilies on Mrs.
Fowler's farm. Her father originated
about a dozen lilies, and she has pro-
duced six or more.
Some of the lily ponds are lined at
the swampy banks with the famous
lotuSes of history Ii song. The same
Egyptian lotus that Cleopatra wove in
her auburn hair to captivate her lovers
is growing in one of these lily ponds.
So huge is the blossom that the Wis
itOr can only wonder how the queen
managed to tuck il behind her ear. and
whether, after all, the effect could have
been really coquettish. There is no
question. however, of the Egyptian 10
fuss being enchanting in its water
home. The stalk rises 6 or Z feet
above the water and ends in an up
turned blossom, shading from creamy
white to carmine red.
The pink japanese and Indian ~lotuses
which bloom on shorter stalks, are
planted in front Of these tall Egyptian
lilies. To see the lotuses blooming in
profusion is TO understand why almost
every oriental country has succumbed
to the spell of the water lily.
For centuries the Buddhist has re-
peated in his prayers, 20, the jewel in
the lotus flower" The Egyptian sculp-
tor used the lotus as a f~avorite de-
sign IN bis temple carvings. The Greek
poets knew it as a symbol of the al
Turing incidence of tropic islands. We
have an American lotus, a beautiful pale
yellow variety. that grows wild in the
country, and that only watts for some
poet or philosopher to immortalize its
charm.
Further along the way are the Vic
toria lilies, the royalty of the water
lily family. The leaves of the Vic
torias are sometimes seven feet across
They are like round boats, with turned
up edges to keep out the water. A
child can sit safely on one of the
largest of these flotting trays. The
flower is a giant, too, a great, blush
tinted blossom that scents the air with
a heavy fragrance suggestive Of pine.
apple.
Mrs. Fowler leads the way past all
these water wonders. twenty-five
years ago her father, W. E. Shaw
started by making one lily pond in his
swamp land. Seven acres are now I'm.
der water. There are "a ponds in all
constructed from marsh land. They are
fed by springs, and the water can b,
raised or drained off at will. All ex,
cept the tenderest plants stay in the
water during the winter. and when ice
forms. the ponds afford fine skating
Mrs. Fowler and her assistants are
kept busiest between May and October
June is the height Of the season. Al
that time three or four Thousand
blooms a day are picked and sold, bur
all through the warm months a thou
sand or more blossoms are harvested
each morning.
Harvested at Dawn
The lily farmer must be an early
riser. Four o'clock is none too spon t.
, start work. Later in the morning. thu
lilies are full blown and then they can
l not be shipped successfully. TIL,
: closed buds are gathered and packed il
boxes with damp moss. AS soon as tn,
boxes are unpacked. in Boston or st
Louis, the blooms open quickly. Mrs
Fowler ships more lilies to Bostor
and they are to have preference