FENCES, WALLS, AND SHELTERS. 



79 



•character throughout. "Where a splendid prospect challenges our admiraticr , 

 it should be invisible ; where a factory chimney, in a bleak locality, requires 

 concealing, an ornamental wall may serve our purpose. Part of the fence on 

 the plan given on page 53 is a strong iron rabbit-proof one, six feet high, which 

 imparts better ideas of security and strength, near the carriage-entrance, 

 than anything else, save brick or stone, could have given. The same, or a 

 similar kind of fence, might run along most of the east side, reserving 



the west and south 



for the ha-ha. The 



object of the ha-ha 



is to make a fence 



entirely invisible, or 



to make what is a 

 very dwarf fence from the inside, a tall one from the park. Invisible ha-ha's are 

 thus formed, with the aid of a brick wall from four to six feet high, which should 

 batter slightly ; or the wall may be dis- 

 pensed with, and a small iron fence sub- 

 Btituted, as in the margin. Sometimes 

 an upright fence is placed in the bot- 

 tom of the ditch ; but this is the worst 

 of all forms of the ha-ha,— if, indeed, 

 it deserves the name at all. Another form of ha-ha is to have a dwarf iron 

 fence, with a brick or stone wall, of a 

 plain or ornamental character, rising to 

 the height of one, two, or three feet, as 

 in the vignette at the end of this chap- 

 ter. These walls may have a solid base, 

 and the greater part be composed of 

 open balustrades, finished with a massive 

 copmg, furnished with vases. The vig- ^ .; ..-■'" 



nette will illustrate my meaning. 



1S3. The following diagrams and remarks, from Kepton's " Landscapo 

 Gardening," will show the importance of having these walls of the right 

 height and at the proper distance. Mr. Repton says, where the ground falls 

 from the house in an inclined plane, the distance of the fence can only be 

 ascertained by actual experiment on the spot ; and of course, the steeper the 

 descent the nearer or lower must be the terrace-wall. 



184. The eye sees the ground over the fence at A ; but if carried to B, aU 

 view of the gi'ound will be 

 lost to a person standing on 

 the floor-line C. If the ground 

 be flat, as at C, in fig. 2, or rises from 

 the house to D, the fence may be placed 

 much farther from the house, without 

 obstructing the view of the park from A. 



