GARDEN STRUCTURES. 237 



When wooden picket fences are used, as tliey common- 

 ly are, the lighter and more simj^lo they are in design, 

 the better their appearance. It is in poor taste to spend 

 money on excessive ornamentation of these or any other 

 kind of common fences of wood or iron in the manner 

 often seen. 



There might be much to recommend on the score of 

 fine garden effect, in the custom common in some cities, 

 of having no front fences even on large grounds. But 

 their absence never allows the owner who thinks much 

 of his garden surroundings, containing perhaps rare and 

 prized specimens, to feel secure against intrusions from 

 quadrupeds, children, etc. I observe that while a few years 

 ago this custom seemed destined to prevail generally, now 

 nearly all the best places of large size have some kind 

 of fence or guard put up along the street. 



Hurdle fences, made of light wrought iron posts and 

 bars, as often seen in the gardens of the British Isles, can at 



/ 



Fig. 81.— COPING AND ENTRANCE NEXT TO SmEWALK. 



times be advantageously used in parks and large grounds. 

 Instead of mowing all parts, large plats some distance 

 from the house or prominent drives, may be surrounded 

 with these and cattle and sheep be allowed to pasture 

 within. By this course, direct use may be had of some 

 parts of the grounds without the expense of mowing, and 

 yet, being closely cropped by the animals, these areas may 

 have the same appearance as the mowed parts. Tli^ in- 

 troduction of live stock in this way, engaged in feeding 

 or resting, adds much to the interest and effect in large 



