Evening star., 1934-04-07
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES z. TRACEWELL.

How about the possibility Of a pool
this year? 1t doesn't take much
space.
Few features of the modern garden
have come forward with more of q
rush during recent years.
Where formerly a lily pool was q
rarity, today 1t may be found in the
most humble dooryard.
1t may range all the way from q
wooden tub to the most pretentious
concrete affair.
The plants may be single hardy
water lily, in the tub, to a variety OF
them in the large pool. The latter
may include both night and day
bloomers and the lotus.
Two or three small goldfshes may
ornament the tub, as well as help
keep down mosquitoe larvae.
In the large pool scores Of fishes,
including big ones commonly known
as giants" or whales" will swim In
the not always transparent water.
n X n
Most gardeners who put in a lily
pool spend most of their time there
after lamenting the fact that the
water Is not crystal clear.
It seldom is in Nature. especially in
small pools in which there is little
movement
The outdoor pool, unless 1t has run
ming water, is little more than an
aquarium, after all. It will afford a
great deal more oxygen to the fishes,
however, and a considerable amount
OF live food, such as Nature always
provides when she is left in control.
obsessed with the ideal of perfectly
colOrleSS water.
1t may be attained, at times; clans
will help. being natural filters; a good
growth of lilies tends to minimize the
growth of free floating algae causing
the trouble.
The truth Is that few stagnant pools
in Nature are crystal clear" And
a stagnant pool Is exactly what the
perfect lily pool Is, whether one ordi-
narily thinks of 1t in that light or
not. The perfectly functioning home
aquarium, in which a true balanced
condition has been attained. likewise
is a stagnant body of water.
We are SO used to associating the
idea Of decay and evil smells with the
word 'stagnant" that commonly We
tend TO forget that the chemistry
which Nature achieves In the watery
world Is one Of the remaining mys-
teries.
Here is a mystery as great as any,
yet how few gardeners ever give it q
thought. even after they put in pools
They expect the thing to run itself
and 1t does. more or less, but II it
dares to become green, II the bottom
becomes invisible, they set up quite a
howl about 1t.
ture, are clear to the bottom. They
soon take on a dark green hue, which
is far from transparent.
Even sea water, which We incline to
think OF as perfectly clean. is more
or less opaque. at times striking the
eye as green, at others as blue, some
times almost black
lIC ONCui AiiiCA WIN nAiA ~
Is clean. but not in mans way OF
cleanliness. The cleanness of Mother
Nature is not a fussy cleanliness. but
one in which various chemical re-
actions are going on all the time, one
set Of forces constantly acting to bal
ance out another.
The same action goes on In all
water whether ocean. lake river. pool
tub or aquarium. Wherever animal
and plant life must live side by side
these essentially mysterious actions
take place, one tending to harm the
other. but also helping the other.
The balance attained through this
constant interchange ought to be bet
ter and more complete outdoors, that is
why the tiniest pool in the yard may
be sweet and pure, in Natures sense
Of purity and sweetness.
One may believe, at times, that Ma