TREATMENT OF GROUND. FORMATION OF WALKS. 331 



'mpossible to do so, for it must be remembered that it is not 

 oy forming the surface alone that nature renders it 

 picturesque, but also by the accessories and accompa- 

 niments which she liberally bestows upon the surface when 

 once formed. These are, vegetation, trees, rocks, etc., 

 which, with the influence of time, will often render many 

 a scene, that, stripped of its enriching drapery, would be 

 positively harsh and ugly, extremely picturesque, or 

 strikingly beautiful. Proofs of this will occur to every one 

 who will contrast in his mind the appearance of a steep 

 clayey river bank, or even pit, when bare, raw, and 

 verdureless, and the same objects when nature or art has 

 clothed them with a luxuriant and diversified 2;arniture of 

 trees, shrubs, and plants. In the former case, all was 

 positively ugly and displeasing to the eye of taste ; in the 

 latter, all is picturesque and harmonious. 



A perfect flat, or level surface, is often the most difficult 

 io improve of any description of ground. In some cases, 

 as in the example of a very large park, with an immense 

 building, a level surface may be in excellent keeping, giving 

 an air of grandeur to the whole scene : for both the 

 simplicity and the wide extent of a level plain in such a 

 situation, would be highly expressive of grandeur when 

 united to a fine pile of building. But ordinarily, a flat 

 surface is extremely dull and uninteresting. One unbroken 

 plain of green is spread before the eye, varied by none of 

 those changing lights and shadows that belong to a finely 

 undulating lawn. It is true that this affects the mind 

 differently in certain situations, as a broad plain is a 

 delightful contrast and source of repose in a mountainous 

 country. But we here speak of the greater part of the 

 surface of the United States, where country seats are 



