286 !lLant)5cape Brcbitecture 



red ways whatever makes pastoral and picturesque 

 changes true to the nature of the place: this is well 

 explained in the following words: 



"It has been stated that this park [Central Park] 

 differs from most English parks in substituting a 

 multiplicity of small picturesque scenes for broad 

 expanses of turf but it ought not to be forgotten that 

 the park has the same pastoral charm of simple, 

 natural scenery which is found in landscapes where 

 the features are broader. When the site was selected 

 not the slightest attention was given to its landscape 

 possibilities, and the fact seemed only to be considered 

 that it was in the centre of the island and that the 

 ground was so broken and intractable that it would 

 cost as much to construct streets throughout it on 

 the established rectangular system as it would to 

 re-form it into a pleasure ground. South of the res- 

 ervoir the surface was so rugged and heterogeneous, 

 traversed as it was diagonally by ridges of outcrop- 

 ping gneiss, with marshy hollows between them, that 

 no opportunity for making a spacious meadow-like 

 effect was offered. The upper half of the park could 

 be treated in a somewhat broader way, as its natural 

 features were larger, its slopes had a grander sweep, 

 and its horizon lines were nobler. The only landscape 

 effects which could be produced under these restric- 

 tions were such as could be controlled between the 

 boundaries of a long narrow, rocky territory with no 

 prominent points commanding extensive views. No 



