34 
BELDT'S AQUARIUM, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI 
General Pershing Whitaker Aug. Koch 
A NATURAL POOL 
This type pool is suitable for larger estates. Various hardy water lilies, bog plants and ornamental 
grasses give it a natural effect. Tropical lilies may be planted near the shore line for additional 
beauty and color effect. 
CONCRETE MIXTURE 
Use three wheelbarrows full of gravel, two wheel¬ 
barrows full of sand and one sack of cement. This makes 
a good concrete mixture for the average pool. For finish¬ 
ing work you should use a wheelbarrow three-quarters 
full of sifted sand to one sack of cement. All concrete 
work should be in the neighborhood of six inches thick. 
Reinforcing of this concrete may be accomplished through 
the aid of ordinary chicken wire laid in the center of this 
concrete. The sloping walls of the informal pool have a 
great tendency to prevent breakage as the pressure exerted 
when the water freezes during the winter time is not as. 
great as if the walls were straight. Therefore, the slant¬ 
ing walls really have two good features; one 
is that they do not crack as easily during 
the winter time, and the other that it is much 
cheaper to build the walls than if you would 
have to build a form to retain them. 
UNSCREW 
TO DRAIN 
THE INFORMAL POOL 
The informal pool is unquestionably the most popular pool. You 
can make it with the least expense, as no form work is required. 
You just merely dig the hole with a sloping wall and then fill in 
the concrete. 
THE SUCCESSFUL WATER GARDEN 
The success with water gardens depends on quite a number of 
features. One of the most important of these features is sufficient 
sunlight and equally important is the depth of the pond. A number 
of subjects may be taken into consideration when you determine the 
depth of your pool. If you only consider the planting of water lilies, 
then your pool will be deep enough if you make it from 18 to 20 inches, 
but if you want to keep goldfish in your pool and you want to keep 
them over the winter, you should have a certain water depth of usually 
about 36 inches, and in some localities even deeper water is required. 
One can readily understand that everything should be taken into con¬ 
sideration in order to have the type of pool that will take care of your 
particular requirements. 
LOCATION 
The location of the pool should be where it receives a lot of sun¬ 
light. Plenty of sunshine is absolutely necessary for the growth and 
success of water lilies and all kinds of aquatic plants. Therefore, build 
the pool away from large trees and away from buildings in order that 
it may receive a maximum amount of sunlight. 
A pool 3 feet deep is best. In considering the depth of your pool 
you cannot disregard the fact that you may want to leave your goldfish 
in this pool over winter. While a 3 foot depth is too deep to plant 
water lilies, this depth is an absolute necessity for keeping your goldfish 
healthy over the winter, and in some localities even a greater depth is 
to be preferred. In a southern climate 20 inches of depth is all that is 
required to prevent the goldfish from dying over the winter. 
Water lily pools come under three classifications: The natural 
pool, the artificially constructed formal pool, and the informal pool. 
In order to make natural ponds you must have sufficient space, 
plenty of water, and the proper type of soil that will hold a body of 
water without too much seepage. These natural ponds are only suitable 
for larger estates. As a rule very little trouble is experienced with these 
ponds if the soil is right. If the soil is too light, then it is hard to get 
these natural ponds to hold water. While it is possible to provide ad¬ 
ditional material such as the placing of fire clay on the bottom of the 
pool, it is also possible to get these natural ponds to hold water much 
better if you put some very large fish into the pool, either large Carp or 
large goldfish so that the fish completely agitate the water and keep it 
well stirred up. A natural pond which does not seem to hold water 
readily may be made to hold water sufficiently just through the addition 
of rough fish, thus preventing the water from becoming clear. The 
refuse which is stirred up in the pond and held in suspension in the 
water finally is carried to the porous places at the bottom where the 
seepage occures and gradually seals the bottom until it will sufficiently 
hold water. 
Pools of informal design adopt themselves to various planting arrangements. In 
order to help with your problems we are illustrating here a collection for a pool 
of about 5x8 ft., 1. 2 and 3 water lilies. A—cattails, arrowhead, and water poppy, 
umbrella plants and pickeral rush. C—umbrella palms, water iris and parrotsfeather. 
D—variegated sweetflag and water taro. E—paper plant parrotsfeather and water 
canna. F—water hyacinth and water lettuce. This collection can be supplied with 
the three lilies, your choice of any lilies valued at $1.00 each, for only $5.75, our 
collection No. 21. 
