THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 261 



without first casting all the blame ou our " esteemed correspondent," 

 Jemima Wells, who says she will have a pond in the garden, thono'h she 

 does not know where the water is to come from, nor how it is to ba kept 

 when obtained, nor whether it should be in the main walk, on the grass- 

 plot, or on the top of the mound which faces her bed-room window. 

 Now, nine-tenths of our time go to the service of the ladies, and the 

 other tenth to charity; so it will be according to custom if we try to 

 help Jemima with half-a-dozen words of advice, and defy all the mascu- 

 line readers who want to know about roses, fruit-trees, orchids, and other 

 sucli rubbish. 



If we had a plan of Jemima's garden, showing all the levels, we 

 might indicate the precise spot for an ornamental pond, and on the other 

 hand we might fail to indicate the precise spot through sheer ignorance of 

 the nature of the surrounding scenery. "We must, therefore, deal with 

 the subject in a general way, and say first of all, that water may be intro- 

 duced in any part of a garden or wilderness ; but the tvay in which it is 

 done must be determined by the nature of the locality. Suppose the pos- 

 sessor of a garden wishes for water at the summit of a hill, then if he 

 would have a pond or a lake, the chances are in favour of the affair 

 becoming a source of merriment to critics of landscape. But a bubbling 

 fountain would be very appropriate to the top of a hill, and not long since 

 we sat beside a crystal soring on the brow of a heathy eminence at Oak- 

 shott, in Surrey, and counted the species of plants the water had coaxed 

 there. jS^atural springs frequently emerge on high grounds, and in a 

 grand garden the charm of a fountain on the side or summit of a hill may 

 be made quite appropriate, even if the water supply for it has to be 

 secured by artificial appliances, such as the working of a ram at some 

 distance off, and the conveyance of water to the spot by pipes under 

 ground. Once get the water up there, provide a stone receptacle for it, 

 and lead away all overflow in the form of a rivulet, and nature will soon 

 plant the margins of the fountain and the rill with curious wild flowers, 

 and the birds of the district will make the spot a favourite haunt for 

 bathing, drinking, courting, and of course for morning and evening con- 

 certs. The fountain on the hill at Oakshott flows over a rough oak 

 cistern, fixed there by the villagers to preserve a depth of water for 

 dipping. It is almost hemmed in on three sides with tangled vegetation, 

 most of it lovely and rare, and the shallow rivulet it makes in its 

 course down the hill is completely matted with sundew, lichen, lycopo- 

 dium, Scutellaria, bog pimpernel, and other of the choicest vegetation of 

 heathy bogs. If it could be transferred with all its accessories to some 

 great garden it would be considered one of its choicest features, and per- 

 haps attract more visitors than it might be convenient to admit gra- 

 tuitously. So if Jemima wishes for water at the top of her favourite 

 mound, it must be in the form of a fountain, and she may indulge her 

 fancy to any extent to make it grotesque, picturesque, or severely simple. 



In the main walk water is equally admissible, but then we must have 

 an architectural fountain or basin. The style of the house, the terrace, 

 and the grounds must determine the style of the fountain. If the house 

 is a very plain edifice and the grounds would need to be described as 

 "neat" rather than "grand," we should prefer a plain stone moulding, 

 a few graceful curves, and trust more for effect to the sparkle of the water 

 and the grace of the accompanying vegetation than to sculpture or fanciful 



