AND THEIR SETTINGS. 259 



basket-vase now little used, which we recommend as an appro- 

 priate embellishment for a lawn, when filled with suitable plants. 

 Such basket forms may be made either of rustic woodwork, of 

 terra-cotta, or of iron, and need have no bottom ; or at least only 

 rims around the bottoms on the inside sufficient to prevent them 

 from settling into the ground unevenly. When filled with earth 

 they form simply raised beds to be planted with such things as the 

 taste of the owner may choose. The basket form simply gives an 

 artistic relief to the bed, and at the same time is so low that it does 

 not obtrusively break the views over a small lawn, like those tall 

 vases of a garish complexion which are often seen in lonely isola- 

 tion, thrust forward "to show." All vases of classic forms need to 

 be supported by architectural constructions of some kind, near by, 

 which harmonize with them in style ; or else to be so embowered 

 with the foliage of the plants they bear, and by which they are sur- 

 rounded, in the summer months at least, that they will gleam 

 through leaves and flowers like the face of a beautiful woman seen 

 through a veil. The variety of forms and sizes for basket-beds is 

 illimitable ; they may be suited to almost any spot where a flower- 

 bed is desirable, and can be made cheaply, or with costly art, as 

 the surroundings may suggest. We venture, however, to warn their 

 makers not to put arch-handles over them. A basket form is chosen 

 because it is pretty and convenient, but it does not follow that the 

 bed of flowers should make any pretence to be in fact a real basket 

 of flowers. The transparency of the deception makes it ridiculous. 

 Rustic vases made of crooked joints and roots of trees, and 

 twigs with or without their bark, have become quite common, 

 and are often made so strongly and skilfully as to be pleasing 

 works of art. Strength, durability, and firmness on their bases 

 are the essential qualities which they must have. Any construc- 

 tions of this kind which suggest flimsy wood, or bungling carpen- 

 try, or rotting bark, or want of firmness at the base, though they 

 may be planted to give a pretty effect at first, soon become rickety 

 nuisances. But those which are "strongly built, and well," 

 are certainly more likely to have a pleasing effect on common 

 grounds than little plaster, iron, or stone vases, and cannot so 

 easily be used amiss. All rustic constructions of this kind will last 



