The first requisite, where a fountain is a desideratum, is a constant supply of water, either from a natural source or an artificial reservoir, some distance higher than the level of the surface whence the jet or fountain is to rise. Where there is a pond, or other body of water, on a higher level than the proposed fountain, it is only necessary to lay pipes under the surface to conduct the supply of water to the required spot; but where there is no such head of water, the latter must be provided from a reservoir artificially prepared, and kept constantly full. There are two very simple and cheap modes of effecting this, which we shall lay before our readers, and one or the other of which may be adopted in almost every locality. The first is to provide a large flat cistern of sufficient size, which is to be placed under the roof in the upper story of one of the outbuildings, the carriage-house for example, and receive its supplies from the water collected on the roof of the building; the amount of water collected in this way from a roof of moderate size being much more than is generally supposed. The second is to sink a well of capacious size (where such is not already at command) in some part of the grounds where it will not be conspicuous, and over it to erect a small tower, the top of which shall contain a cistern and a small horizontal windmill; which being kept in motion by the wind more or less almost every day in summer, will raise a sufficient quantity of water to keep the reservoir supplied from the well below. In either of these cases, it is only necessary to carry leaden pipes from the cistern (under the surface, below the reach of frost) to the place where the jet is to issue; the supply in both these cases will, if properly arranged, be more than enough for the consumption of the fountain during the hours when it will be necessary for it to play, viz. from sunrise to evening.
