238 COME INTO THE GARDEN 



The construction of a garden pool may or 

 may not involve a considerable outlay, not 

 merely according to its size but according to the 

 method employed and also the source of the 

 water supply. If this has to be piped from a 

 main it is one thing, if it comes from private 

 supply upon the place it is another, and of 

 course if it is available from a spring or spring- 

 fed rivulet or stream, it is still another. Most 

 common is the first named; and the manner of 

 piping into the basin as well as of constructing 

 the latter is therefore more generally typical. 

 The bottom of the finished basin need not be 

 more than two feet below the surface of the 

 ground and a thickness of six inches is sufficient 

 for this. Hence an excavation three feet in 

 depth is enough, since it allows full six inches 

 for a cinder-bed upon which to build the bottom 

 of the pool. It is not supposed always to be 

 necessary to start with such a foundation; but 

 it is very safe to do so. 



Both bottom and sides of a concrete basin 

 should be reinforced with strong wire netting, 

 wire lathing or bars — the latter are necessary 

 only for large tanks where the walls are eight 

 inches in thickness — placed so that it comes in 

 the middle of the concrete when this is poured 

 in. And the sides of small pools should slope 



