128 GARDENS OF ENGLAND 



written at my wish to The G-arden, by the late 

 Director of the Royal Gardens, Kew, just before 

 his retirement after years of beautiful work in 

 those many acres by the Thames side. Sir William 

 Thiselton-Dyer said : " Though in detail it has been 

 my constant care, the lake was not my creation. 

 It was begun in 1856 by Sir William Hooker, and 

 completed in its essential features by Sir Joseph 

 Hooker in 1870. 



" The first point is, I think, its moderate size ; 

 it covers a little more than four and a half acres. 

 I do not mean to say that large pieces of water 

 have not their own charm. But then they are apt 

 to dominate the landscape instead of being an 

 element in it. A piece of water should be an 

 item in a composition and not its master. It is a 

 common thing in a large domain to form a sheet 

 of water by throwing a dam across a shallow 

 valley, and allowing a stream to fill the hollow. 

 The result is rather a reservoir than a lake. The 

 dam is always obvious ; it may be skilfully planted 

 with trees, which, no doubt, mask it at the expense 

 of closing the only extended view the lie of the 

 ground affords. There is usually a boat-house, 

 but rowing under such conditio,ns is an amusement 

 apt to become monotonous. 



