72 31 A TEIi I A L S USED IX 



terest that may be made with them. The paltry artificial rock- 

 works that mar so many otherwise pretty grounds, need scarcely be 

 mentioned, as the sight of them must necessarily make their pro- 

 prietors feel as dissatisfied with their effect as the animal who es- 

 sayed to don the garb and imitate the roar of the lion was with 

 his success. It is not intended, however, to condemn those rock- 

 works which are ipiobtrusivdy placed, for the purpose of growing to 

 better advantage certain favorite plants, but only " rock-work " 

 which is built for exhibition. 



What, then, are the materials which every one may command, 

 and which can be combined in town and village grounds to realize 

 the greatest and most permanent pleasure ? We will name these : 



Of Nature's gifts — Earth, Grass, Trees, Shrubs, Flowers, Vines, 

 and Water ; of Art's productions — Houses, Walks, Roads, Fences, 

 and all the needful accessories of dwellings for cultivated people. 

 Let us briefly sketch what are the essential characteristics of Na- 

 ture's materials. 



Earth. — Of the Earth we demand, for decorative planting, that 

 she shall be rich, and her bosom smooth and flowing ; that, whether 

 varied in surface by billowy inequalities, or formed to less interest- 

 ing slopes or levels, the surface lines shall always be smooth, and 

 free from all rough irregularities. 



Grass. — This is the most lowly, the simplest, and the loveliest 

 element to be used in the adornment of home. A chapter will 

 hereafter be devoted to it under the head of The Lawn. Here its 

 essential use and beauty is defined to be — a close-fitting green robe 

 thrown over the smooth form of the earth, through which every un- 

 dulation is revealed, and over which the sunlight will play as upon 

 velvet, and the shadows of environing objects be clearly outlined 

 as upon a floor. 



Trees. — The beauty of trees is in the endless variety of their 

 forms, their coloring, the contrasts of light and shade in the depths 

 of their foliage, and their shadows, which play with the sunlight 

 and moonlight on the grass beneath them. The latter is one of 

 their greatest charms, but one which the smoothness of the ground 

 and grass has much to do in developing. There is also a noble 

 fascination in viewing the grand trunks of large trees towering over 



