TERRACES AND BALUSTRADES 125 



covers them be low in section but broad in its width. 

 These conditions fulfilled, you will not regret your 

 choice. A balustrade looks at its best when seen 

 from below with the sky behind it ; then the ad- 

 vantage of the wide spacing is evident and the quality 

 of the shape of each baluster tells. If you have a 

 deeply sunk garden with a walk at the end at a 

 considerable altitude above it, crown the retaining 

 wall with these stone balusters and your garden will 

 gain instant charm. Avoid square-turned balusters 

 set close together, and be sparing in ornaments 

 placed above the stone rail. A flat level character 

 is the best to seek, — the stone piers should be wide 

 and of the same height as the balusters ; and if 

 diversity is desired, it should be sought in variations 

 in plan^ with curves and re-entering angles arranged 

 in the wall itself. 



A low terrace wall (some sixteen inches high, a 

 comfortable height if used as a seat) can be treated 

 in a variety of ways, while lengths of plain unpierced 

 walling alternating with one or two balusters give 

 a very pleasing effect. Some difficulty may be 

 experienced in giving a satisfactory finish to a 

 balustrade when it does not terminate against a 



