THE FLOEAL WORLD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 



363 



or only broken in one or two places by an elegant trailing plant or 

 piece of appropriate statuary. In such cases the surrounding 

 borders should be formally laid out with gay flowers, the box, or 

 still better, stone edgings kept in the neatest trim, the standard 

 roses on the turf few but fine, and anything in the nature of a 

 shrubbery or sylvan retreat, placed sufficiently far away as not to 

 break the formality and brightness which should surround the 

 basin. The fountain may be of a classical design, a mere jet on the 

 surface of the water not having sufficient dignity, while the orna- 

 ments of the walks and grass-plots should be elegant vases crowded 

 with gay plants, and light iron chairs, rather than rustic baskets and 

 mossy seats. 



In the formation of a small pond for the cultivation of aquatic 

 plants, the following process may be adopted with advantage : — A 

 concave hollow must be dug of the necessary dimensions, sloping 

 steadily from the outer rim to a depth of not less than four feet in 



mMi 



DESIGN FOB EUSTIO FOUNTAIN. 



the middle. Over the bottom must be placed a layer of puddled 

 clay, of the thickness of from six to twelve inches ; above the clay 

 a layer of rich sandy loam, or well-tempered soil from the bottom of 

 a pond, must be arranged in circular terraces, like the seats in an 

 amphitheatre, so as to form a series of shelves of various depths, 

 from the margin to near the centre. On these shelves may be 

 planted the aquatics which are intended to be grown in the water. 

 The advantage of a descent by a series of steps, instead of a regular 

 slope, is that you may place pots with plants at various depths, so 

 as to submerge each sufficiently, which you could not do on a slope ; 

 the pots being of course removable at any time, for reuewul of 



December. 



