WATER GARDENS HI 



it ripples and swirls over yonder at the foot of 

 the lawn, one fine day overflows its banks and 

 leaves irreparable mischief behind it when it re- 

 turns to its accustomed channel. Early every 

 evening, too, the dank grey mist rises out of it 

 and scatters pains and penalties from its phantom 

 hands. It is useless, besides, to try to grow any 

 tender plant or shrub near the water's brink, for 

 in winter the frost is far more severely felt here 

 than on the hilltop a mile away, and even the 

 laurels are browned and stricken. Or, a contin- 

 gency of another kind may occur. The pond, in 

 which we fondly hoped the pure flowers would 

 ere long float, proves to be too much shadowed 

 by overhanging trees. The falling autumn leaves 

 have choked it, and the lily roots, stifled under 

 the black mud, refuse to flower, or even to grow, 

 in spite of being the very best sorts that could 

 be procured. Such are some of the pros and cons 

 of the circumstances of many a would-be water- 

 lily grower; for water, like fire, is a good friend, 

 but a bad master. And these pros and 'cons are 

 not so irrelevant to the subject in hand as they 

 might seem to be, because there is an unfortunate 

 tendency in the British temperament to play the 

 game of " follow my leader " at all hazards; and 

 we are as likely as not, in the near future, to be all 

 crying for the moon, in the shape of a water gar- 

 den, regardless of that which is fitting or possible. 

 Given plenty of water, however, and that under 

 right conditions, what more delightful use can be 

 made of the opportunity than to arrange some form 

 of water garden ? 



