The Water Garden 123 



for the grower of water lilies and lotuses before he has conquered 

 their most troublesome foe, the water rat. Aphides may sometimes 

 leave the rose bushes to suck the juicy young lotus stems, but 

 strong spraying with a hose washes them off and kills many. If 

 they are very persistent, however, it will be necessary to powder 

 the plants with tobacco dust which, it is true, makes them 

 unsightly for a time. If there is a small boy in the family 

 who can be hired to collect lady-bugs and pasture them upon 

 the aphides, for which they have an insatiable desire, it is an 

 easy solution of what, at its worst, is a small difficulty. Frogs 

 and water snails should be encouraged wherever aquatics are 

 attempted. 



As for gold fish, they are indispensable. Hardy enough to 

 live out in our northern ponds that never freeze to their total 

 depth, the beautiful fish multiply astonishingly with no care what- 

 ever. The feathery submerged part of the water hyacinth is a 

 favourite place for depositing their spawn. With the larvae of 

 the mosquito that can develop only in water and which gold fish 

 devour by the million, they eradicate the last reasonable objection 

 to having a water garden near one's home. Without them on 

 constant patrol, it might readily become a resort for the 

 malaria-spreading pest. They are our foremost allies every- 

 where even in rain barrels against the mosquito. Carp 

 in pools near castle, monastery and palace, were favourite pets 

 of feudal lords, monks and kings in mediaeval days. Gold fish, 

 the carp's rich relations, may be tamed even more readily to eat 

 from the hand. 



A water garden, however small, is worth having if only to 

 attract the birds near one's home. How they delight in it! How 

 they sing! Many visitors must travel miles for a drink on a hot day. 



