SUPPLY OF WATER. 



15 



waste. From the reservoir under the 

 cellars the water is pumped up to a large 

 supply-cistern, which is elevated suffi- 

 ciently to carry the water to all parts of 

 the gardens by its own gravity. Great 

 as the consumption of water must neces- 

 sarily be in such an establishment, still a 

 considerable quantity is allowed to pass 

 off in the common sewer, but sufficient is 

 retained to answer all purposes required. 

 Even were it otherwise, we could easily 

 increase the size of our large reservoir, 

 or even build another. 



The situation to which we have been 

 referring is so elevated above the sur- 

 rounding grounds, that to have brought 

 water by artificial means would have re- 

 quired some miles of pipes, or entailed 

 the expense of machinery to have thrown 

 up the water from the river Esk, which 

 lies considerably below; and even in 

 either of these cases, almost the same ex- 

 tent of tanks and cisterns would have 

 been required. Ponds and large basins 

 of water have been recommended to be 

 formed in kitchen gardens. The former 

 occupy space, and tend to increase the 

 humidity of the atmosphere, and hence 

 to reduce its temperature, as may be in- 

 stanced in the gardens at Dysart House. 

 The latter have a degree of unmeaning 

 stillness unless accompanied with foun- 

 tains, which, however appropriate and 

 even necessary as decorative objects in 

 the flower garden, associate indifferently 

 with the surrounding objects in a garden 

 merely of culture, unless that garden be 

 in the architectural style, — in which case 

 fountains are perfectly admissible, either 

 placed in the centre, as is the case in the 

 royal gardens at Frogmore, or in front 

 of the hothouses, or in connection with 

 some of the other buildings. 



We have lately constructed a tank 30 

 feet long, 4 feet deep, and 4 feet broad, 

 for a supply of liquid manure for the 

 purpose of irrigating and watering par- 

 ticular crops, but quite disconnected with 

 the supply described above. This tank 

 is fed by the waste water from our own 

 house, with additions when required from 

 a contiguous pump, and is enriched by 

 the drainings of some piggeries, with 

 a bag of soot, guano, or pigeons' dung 

 occasionally thrown into it. This liquid 

 manure is conveyed to a part of the gar- 

 den several feet above the general level, 



into a stone cistern four feet square and 

 the same in depth; from thence it is 

 taken in leaden pipes, and distributed by 

 flexible pipes, which can be lengthened 

 or shortened according to circumstances. 

 — (For the construction of tanks and cis- 

 terns, vide sect. Tanks and Cisterns.) 



The great advantage of irrigation has 

 been known for ages, more especially in 

 Egypt, Persia, and other warm, highly 

 cultivated countries. The application of 

 liquid manure, although not entirely un- 

 known to the ancients, has only of late 

 years, comparatively speaking, been at- 

 tended to in this country. A striking- 

 instance of the utility of this mode of 

 fertilising has for years been given in 

 the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, where 

 lands which, within the recollection of 

 persons still living, brought not more 

 than five shillings per acre, have, for many 

 years, by means of irrigation supplied 

 by the drainage of a part of the city, 

 realised from £15 to ,£35 per acre per 

 annum. If, then, irrigation, more espe- 

 cially by liquid manure, be found thus 

 important for agricultural purposes, how 

 much more so may it be expected to prove 

 advantageous to the horticulturist! In- 

 deed, we hold it as a fixed principle that 

 no water should be applied to the roots 

 of fruit trees or culinary vegetables un- 

 less in a highly enriched state. Our own 

 practice is, when our liquid-manure tanks 

 fall short of the required supply, to add 

 soot, guano, or pigeons' dung, to the 

 water used ; and years of experience have 

 proved the great utility of the practice. 



The late eminent garden architect, Mr 

 John Hay, paid great attention to this 

 subject of water; and the examples he 

 has left us, in the gardens at Lundie 

 House, Castle Semple, and Dalmeny 

 Park, all designed by him, show the cor- 

 rectness of his principle. That the ex- 

 pense of bringing and distributing water 

 in these gardens has long ago been repaid 

 to the owners, is beyond a doubt. " Water 

 is supplied " to Dalmeny gardens " from 

 a reservoir situated on an eminence a 

 considerable height above the garden 

 walls. Around the whole garden, 4 

 inches below the surface of the ground, 

 a groove, between 2 and 3 inches deep, 

 has been formed in the walls to receive 

 a f-inch pipe for conducting the water. 

 About 50 feet distant from each other are 



