Practical Considerations 135 



curve, can be placed outside, enclosing a piece of grass on 

 which a few shrubs or trees may be grouped. 



As a house ought invariably to 'be on higher ground than 

 the bulk of the garden, in order that it may not appear damp 

 or buried and shut away from all views into the surrounding 

 country, so the approach to it, especially where the place is 

 small, should be contrived so as to be on a gradual rise all 

 the way. A slight dip in the drive with a subsequent and 

 more decided ascent where it exists naturally, may sometimes 

 be the means of heightening the ground about the house in 

 appearance. But a constant rise in the approach will be the 

 most uniformly suitable. 



Any curves in a drive or walk to a house will be better if 

 they have a very easy sweep, that there may be no tempta- 

 tion for vehicles or foot passengers to injure the grass verges 

 by taking a shorter turn. 



In tracts of country that are excessively fiat, and when the 

 form of the house is tolerably regular, having a center and 

 two wings, should the exterior boundary of the place be 

 about parallel with the entrance front of the house, and the 

 distance between the two sufficiently great, a straight drive 

 through an avenue composed of two, four, or more rows of 

 trees will often have a grand and noble appearance, particu- 

 larly if the grounds are otherwise arranged accordantly. 

 Wherever the drive is deficient in length, there should be 

 only one row of trees on each side of the road, and the width 

 of the drive and the distance from it to the trees should be 

 also proportioned to the length of the avenue. 



As bearing directly on the subject of avenues, I shall make 

 no apology for inserting the following extract, being part of 

 a description of the park at Windsor, from a small work 

 of mine on the "Parks and Gardens of London and its 

 Suburbs," 



