8 The Art of Landscape Gardening 



the spot is destitute of trees : the first object, therefore, 

 must be to shelter the house by home shrubberies ; as 

 on land of such value extensive plantations would be 

 an unpardonable want of economy. 



No general plan of embellishment can, perhaps, be 

 devised which is more eligible than that so often 

 adopted by Mr. Brown, viz. to surround a paddock 

 with a fence, enclosing a shrubbery and gravel walk 

 round the premises : this idea was happily executed by 

 him at Mr. Drummond's delightful place near Stan- 

 more ; but as an attempt has been made to follow the 

 same plan at Brandsbury, without considering the dif- 

 ference of the two situations, I shall beg leave to explain 

 myself by the following sections and remarks. 



Where the natural shape of the ground is concave, 

 as that at Stanmore [Fig. i], nothing can be more desir- 



ThePale The Pale 



Fig. I. Illustrating the shape of the ground at Stanmore. 



able than to enrich the horizon by plantations on the 

 highest ground, and to flood the lowest by a lake or 

 river : in such a situation the most pleasing scenes will 

 be within the pale, looking on the opposite rising bank 

 fringed with trees, or occasionally catching distant views 

 over or beyond the fence. 



On the contrary, if the natural shape be convex, any 

 fence crossing the declivity must intercept those distant 

 views which an eminence should command, and which 



