THE TECHNICS OF GARDENING. 161 



house that has tumbled casually down from the 

 skies, near which the cattle may graze as they list, 

 and the flower-beds are the mere sport of contin- 



gencies. 



o 



Good examples of terrace walls are to be found 

 at Haddon, Claverton, Brympton, Montacute, Brams- 

 hill, Wilton, and Blickling Hall. If truth be told, 

 however, all our English examples dwindle into 

 nothingness by the side of fine Italian examples 

 like those at Villa Albani,* Villa Medici, or Villa 

 Borghese, with their grand scope and array of 

 sculpture. (See illustration from Percier and Fon- 

 taine's " Choix des phis c^iebres maisons de plaisance 

 de Rome et de ses environs." Paris, MDCCCIX.) 



The arrangement of steps is a matter that may 

 call forth a man's utmost ingenuity. The scope and 

 variety of step arrangement is, indeed, a matter that 

 can only be realised by designers who have given it 

 their study. As to practical points. In planning 

 steps make the treads wide, the risers low. Long 

 flights without landings are always objectionable. 

 Some of the best examples, both in England and 

 abroad, have winders ; as to the library quadrangle, 

 Trinity Coll., Cambridge ; Donibristle Castle, Scot- 

 land ; Villa d'Este, Tivoli ; the gardens at Nimes. 

 The grandest specimen of all is the Trinita di Monte 

 steps in Rome (see Notes on Gardens in The British 

 Architect, by John Belcher and Mervyn Macartney). 



It is impossible to lay down rules of equal appli- 

 cation everywhere as to the distribution of garden 



* See accompanying plans. 



