Show I In in n Your Your F Ow Pt E l 8 e 0 1 I V 1 I I lil ld ll s FIRST AID FOR POOLS FOOLS With the cold snap of this week several everal readers of this column have hastened to call me rue on the telephone telephone telephone tele tele- phone and ask what to do about their heir lily pools when ice has formed a coating over them and It seems that hat winter has arrived for keeps There is no need to fear the winter winter win win- ter if it your water lilies were hardy ones and these arc the varieties one usually buys since the tropical lilies are quite costly and also are arc rather difficult to keep over the winter The Marliac Maniac lilies and the yellow ellow one so commonly grown called and so on are all perfectly hardy and may be left undisturbed in the pool all nIl winter I have two pools in my garden and I have gone through all the thc phases of protecting them emptying them filling with leaves and straw covering with boards and generally making the thc pool a nuisance to me that beginners seem bound to tice But one winter I was caught unawares by the weather the pool froze over unusually earl early and the result was that it never did get bet drained and filled in and covered because I was continually expecting a thaw to come By the next spring when the thaw did arrive I was sure that the lilies were all frozen But far from it They hadn't frozen at all and with the warm days of March even tiny red leaves began to appear on the pebbles covering covering cov coy ering cring the earth at the bottom of the pool and the water lilies bloomed much earlier than they had done when the pool had been emptied of its water Now I never drain the pools nor bother to even cover them I see that they are as full of water as possible before freezing time comes comes and this gives me about 14 11 or 15 inches of water over the earth carth The lily roots are arc again a few inches deep in this mud and so it is very improbable that they will actually freeze solid down there They can cnn stand an amount of freezing with safety My one concession Is to float a apiece apiece piece of two four on the pools as this prevents cracking of the Cement cement cement ce ce- ment by the elements although if the pool has been properly made in the first place with reinforcing of at wire ire or metal even this precaution precaution precaution tion is unnecessary Of course you will want to take the goldfish indoors although if you youcan youcan youcan can arrange to have a little water continually running through the pool the fish would be perfectly healthy and happy outside all win win- ter They dont don't need to be kept warm simply to be guarded against the possibility of their being deprived deprived de de- de- de prayed of at air when the Ice coating is 13 solid Tomorrow the care of at goldfish goldfish goldfish gold gold- fish in the house will be discussed QUERIES Mrs E E. T. T L L. Salt Lake City writes Please will vilI you give me directions about my lily pool now that the cold weather has come I enjoy your articles so much and my garden has been lots better this summer duo to them I 1 know Answer Thank Answer Thank you for the appreciative appreciative appreciative ap ap- ap- ap spirit you show The article article ar ar- ar- ar tide tod today y and that tomorrow will help you I hope on your problem |