PRACTICAL BOOK OF GARDEN ARCHITECTURE 



ing it through the wet mixture and the clay mold, 

 to the bottom of the tub, in order to have a hole 

 extending entirely through the concrete basin when 

 finished. While it was setting, the soft concrete was 

 pressed and shaped to give it a saucer form, fol- 

 lowing the outline of the mold beneath, and it was 

 then left to harden, with its inner surface left rough. 

 When finally hardened and turned from the mold, 

 this big concrete saucer had the desirable inside 

 flare, sloping gradually from less than an inch in 

 depth at the edge to about five inches in the centre. 

 The hole in the centre is very useful for removing 

 the stale water from the big basin that would be too 

 heavy to handle. A cork is kept in while the basin 

 is filled. When it is removed, the stale water runs 

 out into the flower bed which surrounds the basin, 

 keeping the plants well watered. When it is de- 

 sirable to set a heavy home-made basin on a pedestal, 

 an eighteen-inch sewer crock may be used to good 

 advantage to hold the basin out of the reach of tres- 

 passing cats. Shallow basins, with a broad flare, 

 are best for winter use. They are not easily cracked, 

 and hot water soon melts the thin layer of ice. 



