FOUNTAINS 89 



rise in front of them. The prismatic hues of the water 

 will only be seen in their full beauty, if they form a 

 high light against a background of deep sombre shadow. 

 Unless the basin is very small a few fish may be kept 

 in it, and by growing aquatic plants they may be kept 

 healthy, and will not require feeding. Lilies should be 

 planted in pots or boxes, and these afterwards sunk into 

 the basin ; on the approach of winter, they may be drawn 

 up again and taken into warmer quarters. 



One can hardly think of fountains without recalling 

 visions of Versailles, and in our own country Chatsworth, 

 where the pranks of the water gardener are allowed full 

 scope. The Chatsworth "waterworks" are the most 

 extensive of their kind in any private garden in England, 

 but the modern gardener will find nothing here worthy 

 of imitation. The tree, under whose shade visitors are 

 invited to rest, and which presently, at the turn of a stop- 

 cock, proceeds to spurt forth water on the luckless 

 victims of a practical joke, truly makes us wonder at the 

 manner in which a former generation took its outdoor 

 pleasures. Far more beautiful are the fountains in the 

 gardens of the celebrated Villa d'Este at Tivoli. Laid 

 out by one of the most celebrated garden designers of the 

 day, Cardinal Ipolito d'Este, the waters of the Anio 

 supplied the grounds with cascades, fountains, and rivulets 

 galore. The great feature of these fountains, and one 

 which we may well endeavour to copy, is their studied 

 simplicity — just a single spray of water, in the larger ones 

 forty or fifty feet high, falling in clouds of misty spray. 

 The giant cypresses and the peach-coloured blossoms of 

 the acacias form notes of varying colour, and the moss- 

 grown balustrades and lofty terraces lead upwards to an 

 almost interminable height. Everywhere are fountains — 

 tiers of them — sparkling in the sunshine and reflecting 

 the exquisite colours of the surrounding vegetation. No 

 pretentious figures are here, just the single jet of water 



