DECORATIVE USE OF WATER 



INTEREST FOR THE CHILDREN 



In connection with the informal water treatment, the designer may 

 introduce many features of park interest. In addition to formal water 

 divertisement such as cascades and falls, there may be water garden- 

 ing, islands and bridges, boat houses and various other water acces- 

 sories. Swans and other water-fowl furnish much enlivenment to 

 such scenes. It is not necessary to forego water life in parks because 

 it may not be possible to acquire rare varieties of exotic birds. The 

 home variety of ducks and geese will give an equally picturesque effect 

 and prove of much attraction. The picture shown of children feeding 

 the ducks in the park in Vienna was but one of a great many taken in 

 different parks of that city. It is a never failing source of amusement 

 to children to have opportunity of feeding these birds, and after 

 awhile the fowl become very tame. In the Fortessa Park in Florence, 

 where there is a large basin of semi-formal design, there thrive great 

 schools of gold fish, and the quaint vendor of currant buns which the 

 children purchase to share with their shining friends is as much a park 

 institution as the man standing ready with the cones of shelled corn 

 for the flocks of pigeons in the Piazza San Marco in Venice. It is 

 just such features of interest, seemingly insignificant in themselves, 

 which make parks popular and establish them in the hearts of the 

 people. There is no reason why ponds of carp and gold fish should 

 not be as much a part of parks in America as the squirrels we are 

 accustomed to watch for. 



Children welcome pools and lagoons for sailing boats, the national 

 operations of whom may be viewed any summer afternoon in Central 

 Park, New York, the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris or the Public 

 Gardens in Milan. Frequently one of the duties of park watchmen in 

 summer is to keep the children from converting fountain basins into 

 wading pools. This of course is the result of the combination of hot 

 weather and their inherent love of paddling in the water, and can 



216 



