Book II. 



CHOICE OF DEMESNE LANDS. 



509 



ations, with a probable design to avoid those inconveniences to which lofty positions had 

 been subject ; hence the frequent sites of many large mansions, and particularly ab- 

 beys and monasteries, the residence of persons who were willing to sacrifice the beauty 

 of prospect for the more solid and permanent advantages of habitable convenience ; 

 amongst which, shelter from wind, and a supply of water for store fishponds, were pre- 

 dominant considerations. (^Enquiry, ^c. by RejHon, p. 83.) In hilly countries, or 

 in any country where the surface is varied, the choice is neither made in the bottoms 

 (fig. 430 ), nor on the summits of hills (c), but generally on knolls, or on the south 

 or south-east side of considerable eminences (b), where a raised platform occurs, either 

 naturally or raised by art from the earth of the foundations ; and the rising grounds 

 behind (d) are planted both for ejSect and shelter. 



d 

 430 



3269. The proximity of water is essential to the comfort of every country residence. 

 Where there are none in springs or surface streams, it may indeed be collected from 

 the roofs of buildings and otherwise, and filtered, and preserved sweet and cool in tanks 

 imderground; but supplies obtained in this way are precarious, expensive, and the 

 water is inferior to that obtained from the soil, either by local wells, or conveyed from a 

 distance in pipes or drains. Water is also extensively required in country residences for 

 the use of gardeners, sometimes for fish ponds ; at a moderate distance, and on a lower 

 level it is always desirable in considerable quantity for the purpose of forming artificial 

 lakes, or river-like reservoirs. Few home features are finer than where the house is 

 situated on a knoll which slopes down on two or more sides, to one encircling piece of 

 water. (Jig, 431.) 



431 



3270. The nature of the soil is an inferior consideration to the others, because all 

 bad soils are susceptible of great improvement ; but still it should be taken into consi- 

 deration along with other objects. A soil retentive of surface water, such as some 

 clayey and soft peaty soils, is the worst, as it is always unpleasant to walk on after rains, 

 and easily poached by cattle and horses. Such soils also require more expense in drain- 

 age and roads, and are much less suitable for garden and farm culture, than firmer soils, 

 and such as are naturally friable or dry. 



3271. The subsoil is sometimes of more importance than the soil, for the former in 

 general can only be improved by draining, and subsoils differ materially in their sus- 

 ceptibility of this improvement. A bad subsoil is an effectual barrier to the thriving 

 of timber trees, and as th(?se constitute the finest ornament of every country-seat, the 

 importance of choosing a subsoil either naturally, or capable of being rendered by art 

 pervious by and congenial to their roots, is sufficiently obvious. 



