FOUNTAINS 85 



In a climate such as ours, where too often we sigh for 

 dryness and warmth, water must be introduced with the 

 greatest caution. A fountain is unlike a portable article 

 of furniture : it is a permanency, and must occupy its 

 place in the frosts and snows of winter, as well as in the 

 hot days of summer. How we shudder at the sight of a 

 fountain in ' mid-winter, the basin filled with ice, and the 

 figures and delicate stonework encrusted with a mantle of 

 frost and snow. Where it forms an unduly prominent 

 object in the garden scene, we are painfully reminded of 

 the summer days which are gone, every time we pass it. 

 Having regard, then, to the limitations which our climate 

 imposes on this particular form of garden ornament, we 

 should be on our guard against erecting large and pre- 

 tentious styles in places of only medium size. With this, 

 the worst has been said, and, when judiciously used, the 

 fountain will prove an undoubted acquisition in the lordly 

 show-place, or the garden of humble extent. 



The first necessity, before a fountain can be considered, 

 is the assurance that there is an abundant supply of water. 

 Nor is this caution unnecessary, for there are to be found 

 in English gardens numbers of fountains which invariably 

 " run dry " during the months when they are most observed. 

 An empty fountain is a wretched object, sufficient to spoil 

 any garden, and no gardener with an eye to the fitness of 

 things will hesitate in removing it promptly. Where the 

 water is obtained at a high rate from a public company, 

 and the cost of keeping it running except on special 

 occasions is prohibitive, we should hesitate before intro- 

 ducing a fountain at all. Its proper use is to serve as a 

 means for raising a jet or jets of water, the music of which 

 will prove grateful on a hot summer's day ; it is not an 

 architectural ornament, and, failing its avowed purpose, is 

 both meaningless and ugly. 



Where the pressure of water available is but small, 

 the drooping fountain is often erected. This generally 



