JOtTENAL OP HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ September 22, 18C3. 



troduced should b'? made in conformity with the surrounding 

 scenery. I have seen a fountain rise from a cii-cular basin 

 and throw water 80 feet into the air in the rustic part of a 

 well-kept garden, and seen in the same place the front of 

 the house disfigTzr^d, certainly not ornamented, by rockwork 

 before it. Now, had the fountain changed places with 

 the rockwork it would have been more in accordance with 

 good taste. Forjitains belong to polished scenery, and 

 rockwork to the natural or rustic. A basin of water is not 

 improved by anything rustic about it in ornamented ground, 

 but a fountain improves the latter just because throwing 

 water into the ail- is the result of art, and, consequently, 

 does not appear in nature : therefore it would be unnatural 

 to introduce a fountain in natural scenery. 



With these pre l i riir aiy remarks I wiU proceed to the 

 construction of th? a.auarium, polished or natural, for aU the 

 difference between one and the other is in the outUne and 

 ornamentation. As a general rule, pools of water should be 

 deepest in the middle., and gradually be made shallower as 

 the side or edge 13 approached. It is not necessary to 

 adhere strictly to this rule, though it is essential to have the 

 water deeper or shallower in one place than another in order 

 to afford facilities for growing as gi-eat a variety of plants as 

 possible ; yet in basins having a regular outline it is as well 

 to have the basin deepest in the middle, or from 3 to 4 feet 

 deep, and to let that depth prevail over half the width of the 

 basin, and then tC' form the bottom into terraces as we ap- 

 proach the edge, rising fi-om 3 to 2 feet, then to 1 foot, which 

 should be the depth of the highest step or ten-ace. The steps 

 should not be les5 than a foot wide, but as much -wider as 

 the -width of the basin will allow. In digging out the basin 

 it should be considered how the water is to be kept in. Lead 

 is the most objectimable material, zinc is worse, and cement 

 almost, if not quite as expensive, though the last is not so 

 detrimental to th^ weU-being of the plants as either of the 

 former. I am persuaded nothing is so good as clay pud- 

 dling, and to make it leak -proof it should not be less than 

 1 foot in thickness over the bottom, and to the height the 

 water is expected to rise, which should be but a few inches 

 below the level of the surrounding ground. The basin or 

 pool should, therefore, be dug out 1 foot deeper and wider 

 than the depth and size it is exjaected to have when com- 

 pleted. Very stiff clay is best for this purpose, and it should 

 not be very wet, though it should be moist. Spread a thin 

 layer of clay over the bottom, and ram this down with 

 wooden rammers n :.t more than 6 inches in diameter, rounded 

 a little at the bottom, .and made small at top so as to 

 handle nicely, occasionally moistening the clay so as to 

 make it work better, and having a bucket of water near in 

 which the rammer is frequently to be dipped to prevent the 

 clay sticking to it. 



It is scarcely possible to ram the clay too hard, for unless 

 the interstices be completely closed the w.ater wiU find its 

 way thi-ough. Add ruore clay and ram this down like the 

 first, continuing to add more clay and to ram untU the bottom 

 is completely covered with weU-wrought clay to the thick- 

 ness of 1 foot. A gutter or pipe should be provided at 

 the top to take awr.y the superfluous water, and if a fountain 

 is to be introduced the pipe shoidd be brought into the 

 basin below the surface of the water, but it should be so 

 situated as to be handy for repairs, and not so that the 

 basin would have to be pulled to pieces in order to repair 

 the supply-pipe. It is not unusual to have a statue on a 

 short or low pedestal ivith the water pouring from the mouth 

 of a snake that ha^ entwined its cold body round tlie breast 

 and neck of the statue. In others, a basin supported by a 

 column is provided for the water to fall into after it escapes 

 ti-om the jet, which, of course, is situated in the centre of 

 the basin, which las: has a fui-rowed edge, thereby causing 

 the water to faU or drip from it in pearly drops into the pool 

 beneath. I do not think water is at all improved in ap- 

 pearance because it issues fi-om the mouth of a statue, nor 

 consider it more crnamental fi-om an elevated basin than 

 when it proceeds from a jet on a level with tlie water. I 

 rather incline to the opinion that it is more ornamental by 

 the latter plan thai-, by either of the former. In any case it 

 is simply a matter of taste, for in ornaments of this kind taste 

 varies quite as much as the designs. Still, I cannot forbear 

 remarking that water issuing from the mouth of a serpent, 

 the nostrils of a statiisj, or mouth of an animal, arc an out- 



rage on good taste, and not in keeping -with the quietude of 

 the suiTOunding objects. If the jet be on a level -with the 

 surface of the water it wUl be necessary to fix the pipe 

 fii-mly to something, or it wUl be liable to become displaced, 

 besides trembling, owing to the pressure of the water, which 

 hinders the water from being delivered steadily in one un- 

 broken column. 



A j)iece of masonry will best serve to secure the supply- 

 pipe in a proper position, for it is easy to let or run lead into 

 it to which the pipe may be soldered. The masonry should 

 rest on the clay, more being put in to prevent its sinking 

 deep into the clay, and so making a way for the water to 

 escape. The clay should not be worked round the masonry, 

 for the water would find its way down by the side of it, and 

 so escape — that is. presuming the masom-y to be fixed prior 

 to the puddling. After the puddling has become dry, and it 

 should be left a day or two to do so, and no cracks appearing, 

 as there wUl be if it has not been rammed sufficiently, throw 

 in as much soil as will cover the bottom 6 inches deep, 

 lessening the quantity so that it wUl not be covered more 

 than a couple of inches at the edge. 



The soil may consist of bog earth, or where that cannot 

 be had, peat one-fourth, rich and rather strong loam one- 

 half, and one-fom'th gravel. If, however, the clay has 

 cracked, the rammers must be brought into requisition 

 again, and the clay rammed still firmer, which being done 

 quickly, as it ought to be, allow it to remain a day, and if it 

 shows no disposition to crack put in the soil, and let in the 

 water, taking care that it does not wash the soil down into 

 the deepest part of the basin. Having filled it allow it to 

 stand to see that it does not leak, trying the fountain if 

 there be one. 



With regard to the size of the jet, M. Frani;ois says the 

 diameter should be one-fourth that of the supjjly-pipe, and 

 he estimates the height of the column of water thrown into 

 the afr to be '• 1 foot below the level of the source for 

 every hundred yards distance." These calculations, how- 

 ever, must be taken with considerable reserve, for the bulk 

 of water at the soiu-ce has qidte as much to do with the 

 height the water is expected to rise. For small fountains 

 where the pressure is not known it is an easy process to 

 .ascertain by means of a lead nozzle, the orifice or opening 

 of which can readily be increased or diminished, the width 

 of the opening best adapted to throw the highest and ftiUest 

 jet of w.ater the pressure is capable of throwing. The width 

 of the basin is quite high enough for any water to be thrown. 

 This being done and working satisfactorily, the basin 

 will require an edging of stone or some such material 

 of an ornamental character ; or an edging of green glass 

 edging-tiles will answer as well as anything, and form an 

 agreeable contrast with the wliiteness of the water and grey 

 of the sui-rounding gravel path. In case there is no foun- 

 tain the pipe that supplies the basin should be carried in 

 unseen, for no beauty is gained by sho-wing how the water is 

 supplied. Beyond the above a basin needs no other orna- 

 ments except the plants, unless the bottom of the jet be 

 considered improved by the raising of some rockwork round 

 it. The idea, however, of water rising from a pUed cone of 

 stones is preposterous. Eemember, I am writing of water 

 in the midst of an artistic flower gai-den, where everything is 

 art-siippUed, and from which everything natirral is excluded. 

 For that reason a flower g.ai-den, where the corners of nature 

 are rounded-off, should not contain anything of an uregular 

 outUne, or that, whatever it may be, wUl fail to harmonise. 



I may observe that if the pressure be too great it can be 

 lessened by the agency of a stop-tap let into the supply-pipe, 

 so that it may be regiilated to throw the water any height ; 

 and wlnlst ijroviding for the conveyance of the water to the 

 aciuatic basin, see if a tiip cannot be conveniently placed to 

 which the gardener can fasten some india-rubber tubing, 

 and so water the beds in as many minutes as it takes him 

 hoiu'3 to do with the watering-pot. The beauty of a garden 

 is in proportion to the amount of sunshine in it, and it really 

 is astonishing to see how fast 'vry faces disappear when these 

 little conveniences are given to the gardener. — G. Abbet. 

 (^To he continned.) 



Muscat Hambukoh Gsape Losing its Flavoue. — I have 

 the Muscat Hambui-gh Grape worked on the Black Ham- 



