[HE Villa Muti had once the most varied 

 system of flower-gardens of any villa in 

 Italy. The house is literally surrounded 

 by them, all at different levels, and one might walk 

 out of any story of the house and find one's self 

 in a charming garden. The villa has now gone to 

 almost absolute decay, and only the vaguest out- 

 lines of the arrangements of these gardens can be 

 discovered. There is therefore very little there which 

 could be so reproduced as to convey any idea of what 

 they had been. The " bosquet " is on a terrace rest- 

 ing above the upper garden, and is reached by a fine 

 stairway, which begins in full sunlight and ends in the 

 heart of the grove in the densest shade. The reser- 

 voir is above this, and has seats about it. A great 

 deal of terracing was necessary for gardens. The old 

 gates and stairways which connected the terraces and 

 the retaining wall which supported them are still in 



their places, and it is by this means that one recon- 



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