FRENCH FASHIONS 225 



paths were wider than those in the parterres of em- 

 broidery and compartment and were broad enough to 

 walk on. 



The parterre after the English manner was considered Parterres 

 the least ornamental. It consisted of a large grass-plot, 



surrounded by a border of flowers. The grass was 

 separated from the border by a sanded path two or three 

 feet wide. A boulingrin, or bowling-green, was a sunken 

 parterre a 1'Anglaise. 



The border was an important feature, and might be Borders. 

 given several forms. The most common continuously 

 surrounded the parterre, was edged with box, daisies, 

 sea-thrift, or some other plant, and planted with flowers 

 and shrubs. Others were of grass or sand and orna- 

 mented with yews, orange trees, or flowering shrubs, 

 in vases, flower-pots, or boxes, or with lines of clipped 

 and pleached trees planted in the ground. 



Walks were carefully laid out, their breadth pro- 

 portioned to their length. The principal ones leading 

 to the house, or to some important object point, were 

 left open, while covered walks were placed where they 

 would not obstruct the view, therefore not on the main 

 axes of the garden. Some paths were single; others 

 were in threes, the central one twice the width of those 

 on each side. Lines of detached trees bordered these 

 paths. Three feet was allowed each person, enabling 

 two people to walk abreast on a path six feet wide, four 



