46 AMERICAN HOMES 
The Common Lily of Our Ponds is Distinguished by its Exquisite Fragrance 
and by its Beauty of Form and Color 
It is most important that the soil and water be gotten into 
the pond as soon as possible, that the cement may be pro- 
tected while setting, and it will be wise to cover the sides 
with wet carpets as fast as they are laid and not to allow 
them to dry out, as in that case the walls will not prove water- 
tight, the water seeping through the walls and causing waste, 
which can only be rectified by going over the surface with 
another coat of the high grade cement. 
The evaporation from a pond of any size is considerable, 
and sufficient water must be added each day to cover this 
loss. Probably the best source of water supply is from 
a windmill tank, where the water is warmed before using; 
but where water must be supplied by public water system or 
pumped directly from a well it would be better if added in the 
middle of the day, when the temperature will not be greatly 
AND GARDENS January, 1906 
affected, as water lilies will not thrive and 
bloom freely under sudden and extreme 
changes of temperature. 
All tanks, ponds and lakes should have 
submerged plants growing in them to 
aerify the water, thereby keeping it sweet 
and pure. The best plants for this purpose 
are probably the Anacharis canadensis 
gigantea, or Cabomba viridiflora. These 
can be planted in water from six inches to 
two feet deep. Fish should be in all ponds, 
from the smallest to the largest, as they will 
destroy all mosquitoes, larve and other in- 
sects. Sunfish are especially valuable in the 
lily ponds in this respect, as they not only 
destroy much small insect life, but also feed 
on the snails, which are very destructive in 
the lily beds. Goldfish are very ornamental, 
but the water in the pond, owing to the de- 
composition of vegetable matter, is seldom 
clear enough to show them to the best ad- 
vantage. [hey can not occupy the same 
basin with the sunfish, as the latter, forsome 
unexplained reason, always kill the gold- 
fish. A twelve-foot pond will accommodate 
a dozen or more fish, and it is surprising 
how fast they will grow with no other 
food than is furnished by the pond. Green flies and other in- 
sects on nympheas can be destroyed by a weak solution of 
kerosene emulsion, applied only after sundown. Nelumbium 
caterpillars are best picked off by hand and destroyed, or a 
weak solution of tobacco will keep them in check. Never 
use kerosene emulsion on nelumbians. 
After hard frost has killed the lily pads the water in 
the small ponds should be let out, the crowns of the 
plants protected with loose boxes turned over them, the 
pond filled heaping full of leaves, and the whole pond coy- 
ered with boards, raised in the center, so as to shed rain. If 
this is thoroughly done the leaves will keep dry all winter 
and will effectually shut out frost. With the temperature 
standing twenty below zero for days at a time, my own pond, 
so protected, has never yet had a touch of frost. 
The Home and the Architect 
“4 HE home and the architect, the architect and 
the home: which is it? The difference is 
more pronounced than may be apparent at 
first. The architect of the dwelling has an 
important duty to perform. His business 
is to create a habitation for the home. He 
contributes the physical framework on which the home is 
erected. If his work be badly done the home is likely to fail 
in completeness of success. If his work be good the chances 
of home success are correspondingly increased. 
It is quite pertinent, therefore, to ask if the architect is the 
first to be considered or the home itself. The architect’s part 
is an important one; but, after all, he is simply a contributory 
agent. He does not have to live in the house he builds; he 
perhaps knows nothing, and may never know nothing, of the 
home life that will grow up within his building. His interest 
in the house may not be very great, measured by intensity, 
and is very likely to be restricted to obtaining a satisfactory 
architectural ensemble and a commodious and effective in- 
terior, encased without, within an attractive design. 
These matters are not inconsequential. ‘They are, in fact, 
affairs of very grave portent. Many no doubt will consider 
them outside the elements which properly go into home mak- 
ing; yet their relationship to the home is real and important 
notwithstanding the well established circumstance that a very 
beautiful home life may be developed under most unfavorable 
architectural conditions. 
But this development is not likely often to be realized. The 
more complex our civilization the more difficult is the crea- 
tion of the home atmosphere. We can not now afford to 
neglect nor ignore anything at all which may help to home 
betterment, which will add to home interest, or which will 
increase interest in the house as a home. 
This is precisely the important aspect in which houses 
should be viewed. ‘They are not mere works of architecture; 
they are not mere studies in designs, not even examples in 
architectural skill. All these they are, of course, but these 
are minor matters, unavoidable from the work of the archi- 
tect, but of comparatively small importance compared with 
the nobler aspect of the house as the home itself. 
Hence the double requirement that should be insisted on 
for all houses: good houses and good looking houses. The 
architect is subordinate to the home; he is the agent that helps 
to create it; but his relationship to it, is secondary. 
