THE BEAUTIFUL IN GROUND. 



wear away the harshness and violence of surface. What cannot be softened, is hidden 

 and rounded by means of foliage, trees and shrubs, and creeping vines, and so the ten- 

 dency to the curve is always greater and greater. But man often forms ugly surfaces 

 of ground, by breaking up all natural curves, without recognizing their expression, by 

 distributing lumps of earth here and there, by grading levels in the midst of undula- 

 tions, and raising mounds on perfectly smooth surfaces ; in short, by regarding only 

 the little he wishes to do in his folly, and not studying the larger part that nature has 

 already done in her wisdom. As a common, though accidental illustration of this, 

 we may notice that the mere routine of tillage on a farm, has a tendency to destroy 

 natural beauty of surface, by ridging up the soil at the outsides of the field, and thus 

 breaking up that continuous flow of line which delights the eye. 



Our object in these remarks, is simply to ask our readers to think in the beginning, 

 before they even commence any improvements on the surface of ground which they 

 wish to embellish — to think in what natural beauty really consists, and whether in 

 grading, they are not wasting money, and losing that which they are seeking. It will 

 be better still, if they will consider the matter seriously, when they are about buying 

 a place, since we have said in our last number, no money is expended with so little to 

 show for it, and so little satisfaction, as that spent in changing the original surface 

 of the ground. 



Practically — the rules we would deduce are the following : To select always, if 

 possible, a surface varied by gentle curves and undulations. If something of this cha- 

 racter already exists, it may often be greatly heightened or improved at little cost. 

 Very often, too, a nearly level surface may, by a very trifling addition — only adding a 

 few inches in certain points, be raised to a character of positive beanty — by simply 

 following the hints given by nature. 



When a surface is quite level by nature, we must, usually, content ourselves with 

 trusting to planting, and the arrangement of walks, buildings, &c., to produce beauty 

 and variety ; and we would always, in such cases, rather expend money in introducing 

 beautiful vases, statues, or other works of positive artistic merit, than to terrace and 

 unmake what character nature has stamped on the ground. 



Positively ugly and forbidding surfaces of ground, may be rendered highly inte- 

 resting and beautiful, only by changing their character, entirely, by planting. Such 

 ground, after this has been done, becomes only the skeleton of the fair outside of beauty 

 and verdure that covers the forbidding original. Some of the most picturesque ra- 

 vines and rocky hill-sides, if stripped entirely of their foliage, would appear as ugly 

 as they were before beautiful, and while this may teach the improver that there is no 

 situation that may not be rendered attractive, if the soil will yield a growth of trees, 

 shrubs and vines, it does not the less render it worth our attention in choosing or im- 

 proving a place, to examine carefully beforehand, in what really consists the Beautiful 

 in ground, and whether we shall lose or gain it in our proposed improvements. 



