THE TREATMENT OF WATER 55 
highly cultivated portion of the grounds. Hence there 
was no question of any necessity for formal treatment ; 
the stream as a matter of fact might have been left 
exactly as it was, without incongruity. However, it 
offered opportunities of a kind not to be missed, and a 
few months later I went to see what had been effected. 
To begin with, the stream had been “cleaned out” for 
its entire length, which meant that every particle of 
water weed, every tuft of rush and sedge, had been 
destroyed; a quantity of mud and sludge had been 
dredged up and thrown on either bank, and a bridge or 
two was thrown across for no apparent purpose. By 
means of a small dam, a suitable depression in the 
ground had been flooded into a miniature lake, from 
whose surface rose two aggressive little islands, planted 
with small conifers and dotted with rocks. Clumps of 
iris lined the shore, lilies had been planted, and twining 
round the whole so as to give easy access to every part, 
was a serpentine path, immaculately gravelled. As I 
believe the owner has since repented, I mention this as 
an instance of what should not be done in similar cases. 
A more rational and certainly more artistic way of 
treating this same stream, would have been to consider 
it as part of the wild garden. By free drainage of the 
surrounding land its volume might have been increased, 
so as to give it more the appearance of an impetuous 
mountain brook than a sluggish and somewhat tame little 
piece of water. Each cascade might have been deepened 
so as to give the water a greater fall, and small back- 
water pools where lilies and water plants could be 
introduced, would have added to the interest without 
appearing in any way artificial, Any increased force of 
water would necessitate higher banks, and these would 
be built in close imitation of those already existing. 
The strata being rocky, the soil might have been cleared 
in places, and the bare stone exposed; it would become 
