144 Landscape Gardening 



ing out cattle or other intruders. But they are very rarely 

 fitted for any place except between the lawn and the park, 

 where they are invaluable. If the lawn and park be not on 

 the same level where the sunk fence separates them, they 

 should be made pretty nearly so, or the line of division will 

 show itself too much from the house and from some part of 

 the park, and the apparent size of the land will be lessened. 

 The simk fqnce has not been used in America as much as its 

 merits and American needs would warrant. 



A sunk fence may be of several different kinds; but, in 

 any form, it is important that the ground lines of the excava- 

 tion should be carefully regulated. The simplest and most 



Fig. 40. Sunken Wall or Fence. 



common mode is (fig. 40) that in which a wall is introduced 

 to sustain the earth on the side next the pleasure grounds. 

 This wall should always batter slightly and stand about five 

 feet above the ground at its base, the sloping hne from it 

 extending twelve or fifteen feet, as shown in the figure. In 



Fig. 41. Sloping Invisible Iron Fence. 



fig. 41, no wall is used, but a slight iron or wooden fence is 

 placed on the inner slope, and is so slanted that it makes an 

 effectual barrier from without, while it is hardly at all per- 

 ceptible from the inside. It may be remarked in passing 



