152 : 
centre. A much Iess expensive pond can be made by 
beating the surface of the excavation with some heavy 
pieces of wood and then covering it with a good coating 
of cement. In this case the sides must slope in and not 
be perpendicular, as if brickwork was used. It is only in 
the South where no severe frosts occur that this pla 
would be successful. Where natural ponds are found, of 
course all this trouble will be done away with. We 
have made here @ large artificial basin about fifty feet in 
diameter, from three to four feet deep, without any 
brickwork, but as we have a stiff red clay soil only a 
light coating of cement is necessary to keep it water tight. 
It is planted with a choice assortment of Lilies and 
aquatic plants, and during the Summer months is the 
most attractive feature we have on the place. The sur- 
roundings are all planted with Cannas, Caladium Escu- 
lentum, and a few Bananas give it a decidedly tropical 
aspect. A number of gold and peart fish find an enjoya- 
ble home among the Lilies. A handsome rustic bridge 
spans the pond at its widest point, thus giving visitors a 
good opportunity to more closely view the charms of the 
many varieties of Lilies from the vantage the bridge 
affords them. Such things as this blend most harmon- 
iously with all flower gardening and home decoration 
where there is ample room for such an arrangement. 
Most of the parks and Summer resorts all through the 
Northern and Eastern States have their Lily basins or 
pools, and in New York city these Lily pools are to be 
met with in most of the squares, and are objects of much 
interest and curiosity. The Nelumbium, the Chinquapin 
of the South, is to be found in most of these aquatic gar- 
dens, and meets with an appreciation that is not accorded 
it by a Tennessee or Kentucky farmer when he finds it 
establishing itself in his stock ponds, for it eventually 
