Particular Objects 177 



completely planted with heavy masses of trees and shrub- 

 bery, so that the minute conformations of its design will not 

 greatly affect the visible result. 



The great point to be attempted in mounds is some degree 

 of naturalness and connection with the other parts of the 

 ground. They should not at once show that they have been 

 put in their place by art, and solely for some purpose of con- 

 venience. But this they always will do when they rise sud- 

 denly from the ordinary level and do not at all appear to 

 belong to the rest of the ground. In nature, where swells 

 and undulations of mere earth occur, without any rocky con- 

 stituents, the greatest possible softness and extenuation are 

 perceptible in the lower lines, which blend with the sur- 

 rounding land in the most gradual manner. And even with 

 rocky hills the contour lines are mostly gentle, except in a 

 few rugged parts, and the base, by its natural formation 

 or by the constant accumulation of soil and fragments washed 

 from above, is usually carried out with a gracefully pro- 

 longed sweep till it blends with the hollows or plains. 



To realize much of natural freedom and still more of beauty 

 a raised bank or mound (always excepting a terrace bank of 

 which I do not treat in this place) should be varied in its 

 ground outline and have more or less undulation on its sur- 

 face. A bank that is backed by a wall need be no exception 

 unless it is to be covered with grass, when it should be man- 

 aged as a terrace. Hard and straight lines never look well in 

 contact with flowing ones, but if the bank is to be planted 

 the wall will be hidden. 



For the outlines of a mound or bank intended as the 

 groundwork of a plantation, the directions given a few pages 

 back, for shaping masses of plantings, generally wall apply 

 just as forcibly here. They should be bold in some parts, 

 always free, adapt themselves to the form of walks, or the 



