CHAP. Ill YILLA GAEDENING 25 



altogether the outliues of the little lake are so easy, graceful, and 

 flowing, as to suggest, the thought that man has had but little 

 hand in the work of placing it there. It is not every person, 

 even among those who have some taste in such matters, that 

 can be trusted to design and carry out the creation of artificial 

 water of an ornamental character, so as to make it harmonise 

 with siu-rounding objects without any harsh lines or incongruous 

 features. 



Wherever there is a running stream near, something might be 

 accomplished, and in a land so fidl of water as our own, more might 

 be done to turn that indispensable fluid to ornamental purposes 

 without injury to its utility. In my rambles about the fields I 

 often come upon a pond just as it came from the hand of Nature. 

 I saw one lately — it was only a little one— with clustering 

 Thorns, and Dog Roses, and old Pollard Elms on the bank, which 

 would have delighted the heart of a painter. Though all may not 

 be able to improvise a lake, or even a pond, with the Weeping 

 Birch, the Willow, and the Rhododendrons clothing its margin, yet 

 ornamental water in some shape or form is within the reach of aU. 

 A single tub sunk in a corner under the light shade of a Weeping 

 Birch, and filled with water, will fm-nish an interesting home for 

 some of the smaller aquatics. Such a tub full of Callas or 

 Ethiopian Lilies wiU all summer be an object of interest, and in 

 winter will require no special care ; and this idea might grow to 

 any reasonable extent. I have grown aquatics in large flower-pots 

 with the holes in the bottom puddled up with clay after a cork had 

 been inserted, and a group of large No. 1 pots on the lawn (sunk 

 in the gTOund in some inconspicuous corner) full of water plants 

 is calcidated to attract the attention of the thoughtful person, and 

 would be within the means of everybody. If the water supply 

 of the place is sufficient a shallow pond for Water Lilies may be 

 made, a pipe being led into it from the main water supply. The 

 shape of the pond may be oval or circidar, and it may be made of 

 any size from 10 feet or 12 feet in diameter up to 30 feet. The 

 earth excavated may be used for creating banks for the fernery or 

 an alpine mound. 



The bottom and sides of the Lily pond must be puddled with 

 clay, and on the puddle should be placed a fiiot at least of good 

 loam and manure to plant the roots of the Lilies in. The White 

 Lily (Nympha^a alba) is the most beautiful, and the flowers are so 

 usefid for cutting. Other aquatics may be grown in the Lily i)ond 

 if it is large enough, and variety is always charming. The pond 

 can be kept up to its full height by the pipe which leads into it 

 being tm-ned on for a short time each day. In some cases it may 



