54 THE BOOK OF GARDEN DESIGN 
This is the view which has been embodied in the design 
of hundreds of English gardens; the possession of a 
scrap of water being seized upon as an opportunity for 
a lavish display of dressed stone or artificial rockwork 
built into an endless variety of grotesque forms. Ex- 
tremes are seldom pleasing, and the lover of flowers and 
sylvan scenes will regard these monotonous canals and 
round ponds as scant compensation for the loss of much 
natural beauty. The artificial treatment of water, 
especially when it is required to form part of a formal 
scheme, is one of the most costly undertakings in the 
whole practice of garden craft, and there are many who 
bitterly regret the day when they took the first step 
towards taming this fickle ally. 
From this it will be inferred that I have little sym- 
pathy with those elaborate arrangements which were 
considered of such supreme beauty by Le Notre and 
certain of the older designers. Not the least objection- 
able feature of water which has been conveyed by pipes 
or other means into basins and similar receptacles, is 
that it is nearly always stagnant. Movement is essential 
if sweetness and purity are to be obtained ; the offensive 
condition during hot weather of water in garden tanks 
is the surest confirmation of this. Water is precious 
because it enables the cultivation of a host of beautiful 
plants, whose presence we should otherwise lack; but 
healthy vegetation is almost impossible amidst the decay 
occasioned by stagnation. 
On a small property water generally occurs in the 
shape of a stream or brook, often running an irregular 
course, with possibly small falls between the different 
levels. A case of this kind recently came under my 
notice, and I was interested to see how the owner pro- 
posed including it in his plan. The stream entered 
somewhere on the outskirts of the property, and on no 
occasion passed nearer than 300 yards of the lawns and 
