242 



PONDS AND LAKES. 



moving quietly down to a small neglected mill-pond that 

 partially abutted my property. Across this stream I owned 

 a narrow strip of land only an acre or two in extent, but 

 enough to enable me to control the treatment of both 



shores of the stream. 

 A rustic bridge joined 

 these acres. The water 

 was shallow, not more 

 than, for the most part^ 

 two or three feet deep, 

 and the grassy slope 

 extended to the very 

 edge. It was a brini- 

 \ i ming sheet of water, 

 sometimes overflowing 

 its banks several feet 

 up the steep lawn side. 

 Here was my chance, 

 I believed, to grow 

 aquatic plants in per- 

 fection. I proceeded 

 at once to study the 

 natural conditions of 

 the spot, and tried 

 to work on the same 

 lines as nature had 

 employed in this small territory ever since the dam had 

 been built. Where the force of the stream had already 

 managed to scoop out a small bay, I dug it still farther 

 inland. In other words, I analyzed the forces in action 



GREEN-LEAVED BAMBOO. 

 (ARUNDO DONAX. ) 



