150 



GARDEN MANAGEMENT. 



356- But it is not possible, if it were desirable, to lay out all gardens either 

 upon level ground or such as has a regular slope. Sometimes the intervention 



of rocks, the enormous quantity 

 of material to be moved, and 

 even the stj'le adopted, may ren- 

 der this absolutely impossible 

 or not desirable. As a rule, all 

 geometrical gardens look best, 

 and appear largest, on level sur- 

 faces ; such a sm'face is also 

 most effective for displaying the 

 gardenesque style. In the pic- 

 turesque, irregularities of sur- 

 face may not only be useful but 

 highly desirable. These sketches, 

 which are sections of country, 

 will illustrate my meaning. It 

 is obvious, that if trees, shrubs, 

 &c., are planted on these knolls, 

 they will appear much larger, 

 and more effective, than if 

 placed on a level surface. 

 357. Having glanced at some of the many varieties of surface-forms that 

 may occur in laying out a garden, I wUl now proceed to give a few hints con- 

 cerning their production. Nothing can well be more simple than making 

 ground level ; all that is necessary are a few stakes of varied length, a mallet, 

 a common angle or spirit-level, and a straight-edged piece of wood, Ih inch 

 thick, 4 deep, and 10 or 12 feet long, oi-, better stUl, the base of the level might 

 be so long. Suppose, then, the waving lines in the following section to 

 represent the natural, and the dotted line the desired level. Drive in a stake 

 ci . . , I D level with the surface at 



A ^" If K] ^': "^l J ^'H^ I l'^^~~T\ [ I / "^' insert another at B ; 



'■ N^i-.^ • r^--^! i~^->vi/' — -B place the level across the 

 top, proceed then from b to c, and so on throughout the entire length : this 

 operation will produce the level line of stakes CD. Then, having deter- 

 mined on the level to be adopted at A, measure the same distance down from 

 the top of each stake on the line CD, and this must obviously furnish the 

 required level, AB. la this section there will be rather more earth to be 

 moved than will be required to fill up the depressions on the surface. Some- 

 times this is an advantage, as the earth may be wanted elsewhere ; but if it 

 is otherwise, an excess of soil must be guarded against by a careful survey and 

 correct measurement of the sm-face. Where this is the case, one of the 

 simplest methods for arriving at a correct estimate is to dig out narrow Hnes 

 across the ground to be levelled, at distances of 20 or 30 feet apart, reducing 

 these lines to the requisite level. By carefully measuring the elevations and 



