WATER. 



309 



WATER. 



tural basins of Italy, and the tanks of 

 Persia and India. When of oblong 

 forms they may be of any length, 

 provided they are never of any great 

 breadth ; because in this case they 

 never can be seen in such a manner 

 as to obliterate the idea of high art, 

 the stone margins being always in 

 part, at least, near the eye. 



Water in imitation of nature should 

 be in ponds or basins of irregular shape ; 

 but always so contrived as to display 

 one main feature or breadth of water. 

 A pond, however large it may be, if 

 equally broken throughout by islands, 

 or by projections from the shores, 

 can have no pictorial beauty ; be- 

 cause it is without effect and does not 

 form a whole. The general extent 

 and outline of a piece of water being 

 fixed on, the interior of the pond or 

 lake is to be treated entirely as a 

 lawn. If small, it will require no 

 islands ; but if so large as to require 

 some, they must be distributed 

 towards the sides, so as to vary the 

 outline and to harmonise the pond 

 with the surrounding scenery, and 

 yet to preserve one broad expanse of 

 water ; exactly in the same manner 

 as in varying a lawn with shrubs and 

 flowers, landscape gardeners preserve 

 one broad expanse of turf. The mar- 

 gin of pieces of water in imitation of 

 nature, should be a refined imitation 

 of what is seen in natural lakes. The 

 turf should never exactly touch the 

 water, because the green of the one 

 and the blue of the other do not har- 

 monise. In nature, the harmony is 

 provided for by the water sinking 

 lower at one time than it does at 

 others ; which leaves a dark line of 

 soil even in the most unfavourable 

 cases, and a narrow line of bright 

 gravel or sand in cases best deserving 

 imitation. As substitutes for gravel, 

 stones may be introduced here and 

 there ; and grouped either with plants 

 on the shore or with aquatics, and 



the shades and reflection of these will 

 produce a degree of intricacy and force 

 of effect which will complete the 

 beauty of the scene. 



In the placing of water, whether in 

 imitation of nature or in the creation 

 of artificial character, regard should 

 always be had to the surrounding 

 scenery. Water in landscape attracts 

 the eye more powerfully than any 

 other material, and therefore it should 

 never be placed near a boundary or 

 near any object to which it is not de- 

 sirable to attract attention. Water 

 in imitation of nature should also be 

 placed in what is in reality or in ap- 

 pearance the lowest part of the 

 grounds ; but this rule does not ap- 

 ply to water in highly artificial forms. 



Water Caltrops. — See Trapa. 



Watering - pots are generally 

 formed of tinned iron painted, but a 

 cheaper kind, nearly as durable, is 

 formed of zinc, which requires no 

 paint. Watering-pots are of different 

 sizes, and in every garden having 

 plants in pots, there ought to be three 

 sizes : large for the open garden, 

 smaller for plants in pots under the 

 hand ; and yet smaller, and with a 

 long tube or spout, for pots on a shelf, 

 or at a distance from the operator. 



Watering. — See Water. 



Water-leaf. — See Hydrophyl- 

 lum. 



Water-lily. — See Nymph^a and 

 Nelumbium. 



Water Plants are those which 

 must have their roots and a por- 

 tion of the stalk submerged in water, 

 in contradistinction to marsh plants, 

 which only need to have their roots 

 constantly kept moist. Most water 

 plants require to be planted, or to have 

 their seeds sown, in a layer of soil at 

 the bottom of the cistern or aquarium 

 in which they are grown, if they are 

 tender plants ; or in the soil at the 

 bottom of a pond or other piece of 

 water in the open ground if they are 



