6 THE ART AND PRACTICE OF LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



Nature seldom presents a straight line in any of her forms, 

 unless in the seeming regularity of an oceanic horizon, or the smaller 

 line of water surface. A straight line is the product of art, for even 

 the apparently upright line of the Parthenon columns results from 

 a delicate curve. Nature presents in her broad effects and gra- 

 duated detail, an infinity of curvilinear features. There is beauty in 

 contrast of form ; but appropriateness of natural position is a condition 

 of its value in the scene. As in Nature, water plays such an im- 

 portant part in the formation of the land, so in our circumscribed 

 landscape, the feeling that pervades all Nature should prevail in our 

 treatment of the ground. A calculated shadow on a lawn is a 

 resource of value for the artistic use of natural effect. The extended 

 surface of down land shows exquisite gradation of light and shade ; 

 but not the true vastness of space to the unpractised vision. The 

 eye seeks to estimate distant features, and insensibly gains a 

 standard of measurement from intervening objects, and, when 

 these are absent, most frequently miscalculates distance. Lines or 

 objects placed in a direction going from the line of vision, make 

 the space so marked appear longer, whilst lines running across it, 

 make the space appear less distant. Grass, clothing the ground 

 surface, has an expression of stability and repose ; it seems to be 

 immovable ; and in colour it illustrates the tint of foliage to which it 

 forms a base and background. Trees and shrubs, by the contrast 

 of foliage, give variety, and a gradation of colours may promote 

 the idea of distance. They should clothe the hill-tops and slopes in 

 masses of irregular outline. A sky-line of trees should not be con- 

 tinuous, but should be broken. A valley appears deeper by not being 

 planted, as a hill appears higher than it really is by being planted 

 to its summit. Single trees emphasize falling ground, and they, 

 like the shadowy regions of a wood, conduce to a sensation of 

 mystery, subtly stimulating imagination. They induce an idea of 



