169 



vailing winds, from whence the soil drifts, even the 

 source of the stones that may be conveyed by the ice. 

 These factors will all work effectively in the natural 

 development of an island, and in artificial construc- 

 tions we should continually recognize their value. 



If an island is large enough to require a bridge to 

 connect it with the mainland, or to make the erection 

 of some kind of building advisable, the simplest forms 

 and material should be used, and generally it would 

 be better to use stone alone. " Rustic work" as re- 

 presented by the intricate arrangement of cedar, locust, 

 or sassafras branches twisted into the strange conven- 

 tional forms has become popular for bridges and 

 summer houses on islands and elsewhere, but good taste 

 should really bar it. It is neither defensible as archi- 

 tecture of a sort, nor suitable as material for use in 

 the landscape. 



The outline of the shore of the island is a feature that 

 needs the most careful management to retain the in- 

 finitely varied contours and even indentations character- 

 istic of the method of treating such places followed by 

 nature. Nothing that nature does is accidental or 

 haphazard and therefore it is always important to 

 study her methods and see how and why she arrives 

 at certain results. Something of the play of these 

 natural forces is indicated in the diagrams and expla- 

 nations contained in the quotations from Prince Piickler 

 contained in this chapter. 



