PONDS AND LAKES. 251 



iron cherubs spouting little jets of water, a graceful spray 

 effect has been introduced. Water-lilies and lotuses lend 

 themselves charmingly to the decoration of fountain basins, 

 especially if they are used in moderation and do not cover 

 up more than a fair half of the entire surface of the water. 



Before closing this account of my experience in growing 

 water-plants, I must refer to the introduction of water-lilies 

 and lotuses in the parks of New York. Some four years 

 since, a year or two after I became Superintendent of 

 Parks, my mind was turned, as well as that of my assist- 

 ants, to the subject of growing lilies in the Central and 

 city parks. AVe knew they had been grown to a limited 

 extent in Fairmouut Park, Philadelphia, and conceived the 

 idea of using them largely in New York. 



At first we bought a considerable number, say five 

 hundred dollars' worth, from Mr. Sturtevant, of Borden- 

 town, N. J., the father of water-lily culture in America. 

 For the last two years, however, we have bought little and 

 propagated much, so that at present we have an abundance. 

 We have tanks constructed in the green-houses, where, by 

 means of high bottom-heat, we can grow the most tender 

 aquatic plants. Our most ambitious, if not our earliest 

 attempt, was the construction of a lily-pond. In Central 

 Park we have nothing like the stream and pond effect 

 on my own place, and we found that it would be neces- 

 sary to treat our lakes in a larger and more expensive 

 way. As a first essay we dug out a pond close by, and 

 forming as it were part of, what is termed Conservatory 

 Lake, just north of the gate at 72d Street and Fifth 

 Avenue. The general shape of this pond was oval, with 



