Practical Considerations 143 



joins a bank or elevated bed. Or else it should gradually 

 fall with first a convex (fig. 39) and then a concave curve 

 till it unites with the line of a depression or hollow. With 

 very precipitous banks that are compelled to be brought 

 close to a walk, this rule must be set aside, though rocks, 

 stones, roots, etc., clothed with trailing plants, or masses of 



Fig. 39. Grading to a Walk. 



ivy or cotoneaster alone, will be preferable to grass for such 

 places. Nothing can be more ugly than a convex grass bank 

 reposing angularly on the margin of a walk, and the edge of 

 it can never be cut neatly, w^hile it is apt to be pared back 

 by orderly gardeners, to keep it to some degree of smooth- 

 ness and straightness, until a deep harsh line of bare earth is 

 presented at its base. 



5. Fences. — All the fences of a place, unless they be 

 purely architectural ones or occupy some peculiar position, 

 should be as light as they can be made consistently with 

 strength and be otherwise quiet and inconspicuous. A fence 

 is a thing of necessity and not of ornament, and though the 

 latter feature may possibly be added to it, it is not usually 

 to be wished for. The material, therefore, the color, and 

 the form, should be such as will least excite attention and 

 can be most readily concealed or disguised. 



Sunk fences are the best of all barriers, when the nature 

 of the boundary admits of their appHcation, especially if the 

 land beyond them be in grass, for they are not at all seen 

 from a distance and are as good as a common wall in keep- 



