GARDEX ADORXMEXTS 85 



masonry, on which climbing roses or other suitable plants may 

 ramble. Pergolas are especially agreeable in the tropics owing to 

 the cool shade they afford ; but here the frame-work, to be durable, 

 should be of iron (not wood) and covered with open wire-netting. 

 A pergola which is much admired in Peradeniya Gardens com- 

 prises a number of bolt-iron arches, these being covered with 

 different species of Aristolochia ("Fly-catching" plants), Ipomoea, 

 Bignonia, Congea, etc. A pergola should for preference be 

 on level ground, and not curve or twist ; it may be of any 

 length, but ought not to be less than 7 ft. wide or 7 ft. high. 



Arbours. These may be of various designs to suit circum- 

 stances. A simple and cheap form may be made of iron frame- 

 work, fixed in the ground by means of sections of bamboo, which 

 are buried in the earth and then rilled with concrete ; wire-netting 

 is fastened over the iron frame-work, and on this showy climbing 

 plants are trained. Arbours made of wood-work, with the sides 

 formed of rustic and knotted branches, and the roof covered with 

 shingles, are very appropriate for the hill districts. Some pretty 

 examples of these may be seen in Hakgala Gardens and Nuwara- 

 Eliya Park, in Ceylon. 



Visitors' shelters. No public garden in the tropics should 

 be without some structure that will provide shelter for visitors, and 

 this should to some extent be made to combine ornament with 

 utility. In Peradeniya Gardens, memorial structures, erected to 

 the memory of past directors, serve the purpose of useful shelters 

 to the public. 



Fountains are well adapted to gardens in the tropics, where, 

 in the hot season especially, the spray or the rippling sound of 

 water is particularly pleasant. The base of the fountain, while 

 serving as a useful reservoir, may be turned to good effect by culti- 

 vating various water-plants in it. 



Vases for out-door. Very fair imitation of European vases 

 are sometimes made in Ceylon of concrete, from given moulds. 

 Good specimens of these may be seen in the Gordon Gardens, 

 Colombo, where they are very ornamental, especially when rilled 

 with well-grown and suitable plants. The Sinhalese potters make 

 earthenware urns on elaborate hollow pedestals, which, though 

 liked by some people, are very fragile, and only suited to a verand ih 

 or other position under cover. 



