Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-09-01
BY FREDERIC. !. HASKIN.

K~enilworth, D. c., Aug. 2s.LThis
water lily farm in the United States.
OF course it is run by a woman, and
of yours the woman is known as The
Lady of the Lilies.
Although she is a practical and sue
cessful business woman, it seems APP
proptate to call Mrs. Helen Fowler
by this poetic name. Romance clings
naturally to water lilies and to the
people associated with them, Even
the business of growing lilies by the
acre and shipping them by the thou
sand is tinged with the picturesque,
Imagine the sturdy little woman
fields and directing her assistants, as
they pick several thousand lily buds
on q. 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 his
head and crack goes the shot of the
expert. That turtle eats no more
lilies. .r
Imagine her surrounded by 5000
to 1000 rainbow colored water lilies
one days picking in the height of
the season-busily packing them to
VIC SAl4PpOO ~ PoAAkS oo 81 ny C
cago; Portland, Maine: and Macon,
Georgia. With this sort of thing de-
scribed as routine there is no need
to hunt for the picturesque side OF
lily farming. 49, 4
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 IF the world is repre-
scented by some distinctive water lily.
France has sent some Of our most
beautiful specimens. Sweden supplied
crimson varieties. Zanzibar, In far
Off Africa. sent deep blue and purple
ones; Mexico and Florida, some of the
best yellow kinds. South America, the
royal Victoria lily; while lotuses of
various kinds came from Egypt and
different parts OF the Orient.
All these types are raised in this
country now, and occasionally new
different kinds Of water lilies on Mrs.
Fowler's farm. Her father originated
about a dozen lilies, and she has pro
duced SIX or more.
The Lotus' Of Egypt's Queen.
Some Of the lily ponds are lined at
the swampy hanks with the famous
lotuses of history and song. The same
Egyptian lotus that Cleopatra o
in her auburn hair to captivate her
lovers is growing in one Of these lily
ponds. SO huge is the blossom that
the visitor can only wonder how the
queen managed to tuck it behind her
80. S,hathnN n ffop oil the 4Hoo$
could have been really coquetnsh.
There is no question however, of the
Egyptian lotus being enchanting in.
its water home. The stalk rises 6 or
z feet above the water and ends In an
uptufned blossom shading from
creamy white to .carmine red.
The pink japanese and Indian
lot1D0, which bloom on shorter stalks,
are planted in front Of these tall
Egyptian lilies. To Q the lotuses
blooming In s%profusion is to under
stand why almost every oriental
try 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
sculptor used the lotus as a favorite
design in his temple carvings. The
Greek poets knew it AZ q symbol Of
the alluring incidence OF tropic is
lands. We have an American lotus,
la beautiful pale yellow variety. that
pows wild in the country, and that
only waits for some poet or philos-
opher to immortalfze its charm.
toria lilies. the royalty Of the water
lily family. The leaves Of the vic
|torias are sometimes eve feet
acr0sa. Thew are like round b0afa.