LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 287 



other domestic, and especially if the place be extensive. The 

 principal aini must always be, not to attempt more than can 

 be accomplished well. If a mound be simply planted, and no 

 object beyond trees be attempted, the wood should be so 

 mixed as that the varied colours of the foHage, whether in 

 perfection or in its decline, shall blend well ; or, it may be, 

 that the holly, cedar, the spreading kind of pines, the yew, 

 and other subjects that acquire beauty and interest by age, 

 may lend their united aid in forming a picturesque object 

 from all parts of the ground. 



Ornamental "Water. — But if we have to excavate for a 

 lake, we may dispose of the earth to advantage, in creating 

 a rising ground at one end of it, or for a certain distance along 

 its margin — and no place so fitting for rock- work. And if 

 this be attempted, much depends on the material to be 

 obtained for its execution. It is to be borne in mind, that 

 hillocks, or small mounds, in different parts of a landscape, 

 cannot be approved ; and if this be the natural state of the 

 ground to any evil extent, we have at once to determine 

 whether all shall be levelled, and the excess of soil taken to 

 the place where one upon a more enlarged scale shall be 

 formed, or the superabundant earth should be taken to the 

 hoUows, to fiU up and assist in forming something lilce an 

 even surface. If the former, there must be some taste exer- 

 cised in choosing the site ; and if the latter, some care taken 

 to lessen the work as much as possible, by judicious disposi- 

 tion of the power at hand, to avoid going over the ground 

 twice where once will do, and by carrying the superfluous soil 

 of a hillock to the nearest place that may be available. Some- 

 thing vriR depend upon the nature of the sub-soil. It may be 

 discovered that it consists of gravel ; in which case, all the 

 top-soil must be saved for the surface : no good surface-soil 

 should be buried. It may be stone boulders, or mixed with 

 large stones. It may be rocky; in such case, there is a 

 temptation to form rock-work on a large scale ; and the 

 material being on the spot, it would be comparatively less 

 expensive. 



It is from this importance of the sub-soil that we direct 

 levelling before road-making, because, if the sub-soil be gravel, 

 or stones of large size, the material for the road is ready ; and 

 if the stones be too large, they must be broken. Nobody, in 

 fact, should attempt to move in any of the operations without 



