FOUNTAINS. 



187 



FOUNTAINS. 



are sometimes called, with short handles, 

 are sold in three sizes, and range in price 

 from is. to 2s. 6d. each, according to 



FIG. 2. GARDEN FORK WITH SHORT HANDLE. 



quality; and the prices of those with long 

 handles are much the same, the extra 

 length of handle making but little differ- 



Fountains. 



Fountains, even on the smallest scale, 

 can only be constructed in gardens and 

 pleasure grounds of great size or of con- 

 siderable importance. The great objection 

 to fountains as garden decorations is to be 

 found in the fact that they cannot be 

 always in operation, and that they must be 

 set in action like a musical box, and, like 

 a musical box, will only remain in action 

 until the motive power is exhausted. In 

 small gardens they can only be carried out 

 on a small scale, and it is doubtful if the 

 temporary effect that is produced now and 

 then for a brief period is worth the cost of 

 production. Fountains in miniature in 

 ferneries and conservatories are admissible, 

 and even desirable, as pretty adjuncts in 

 the right place, whose maintenance at cer- 

 tain seasons can be managed by artificial 

 means which in themselves are not over- 

 burdensome by reason of their cost ; but 

 in small gardens the introduction of a 

 fountain savours somewhat of pretension. 



There are, however, many who will have 

 a fountain by hook or by crook, as the old 

 saying goes, and it is therefore necessary 

 to explain the principles on which fountains 

 may be constructed. 



Water, unless interrupted in its course, 

 will, in ordinary circumstances, find its 

 natural level ; that is to say, if a body of 



water, A, in Fig. i, underlying an imper- 

 vious stratum of clay, as B, is pierced at c, 

 and a tube inserted, the water will rise in a 

 jet to the highest level of the water A, as 

 shown by the horizontal dotted line. Or 

 if a glass tube, A, Fig. 2, having a funnel- 

 shaped mouth, be carried through the cork, 

 B, of the jar c, and a small tube, D, also 

 inserted in the same cork, so as to be in 

 free communication with the fluid poured 

 into the funnel, it will be found that when 

 the jar c is filled by pouring water through 

 the tube A, the water will force its way up- 

 ward through D in a small jet, and continue 

 to do so as long as liquid is poured into the 

 funnel, the jet being proportioned in height 

 to the height and diameter of the tube. . 



FIG. I. DIAGRAM SHOWING HOW WATER 

 .FINDS ITS OWN LEVEL. 



Jets exceeding the fifteenth of an inch in 

 size never attain the natural surface level ; 

 friction at the orifice, the diffusion of the 

 power by the spreading of spray, and the 

 resisting power of the atmosphere, all tend- 

 ing to prevent its doing so. Great jets rise 

 higher in proportion than small, except 

 when the horizontal tube leading to the 

 orifice of the jet is very narrow, when small 

 jets rise highest. 



Practically, a jet will rise to within a few 

 inches of the bottom of its fountain-head. 

 For the artificial cascade, the water-service 

 need not be higher than the Doinl at which 

 it flows over the ledge or njfc* of the tazza ; 

 the ledge should be perfectly 'level, in order 

 to keep up a regular flow 'Ji writer : a notch 

 or other irregularity would destroy the cas- 



