When the garden is to be terraced it becomes one of the most difficult 

 problems that the designer has to face ; for, owing to the great expense of 

 retaining-walls and balustrades, work cannot be done experimentally, but must 

 be done right the first time. There are, however, many admirable examples for 

 the treatment of walls and terraces in England, and especially in Italy, where 

 the designing of terraces was carried to a state of perfection which has added 

 much to our command over this architectural detail ; and the Italian examples 

 should be studied on all occasions where terracing is necessary. The various 

 levels, too, have to be connected by steps and stairways, which in themselves often 

 form interesting decorative features. We are prone in this country to make our 

 steps too narrow and our stairways too steep. Out-of-doors, where more space 

 is available than within, stairs may be given a breadth and treatment that are 

 impossible in a house ; and their ornamental, even more than their utilitarian 

 character should constantly be borne in mind. The planting on the different 

 terraces may be divided into garden beds or grass lawns by gravel paths and paved 

 walks, so as to give variety in detail. The aim should be to avoid too much 

 monotony in the width of successive terraces, especially where the grade is so 

 uniform that it becomes expensive to make the various levels vary in width on 

 account of the large amount of soil that has to be moved. When, however, 

 marked and abrupt changes in grade occur, it becomes possible to produce most 

 interesting results. The garden at Purchase, N..Y. (Plate xciv.), shows an illus- 

 tration of such terracing. Here the garden is below the terrace on which the 

 house stands, and is itself well backed up on the west by a high retaining-wall, 

 and on the east and north by a thick row of trees, while the irregular fringe of 

 shrubs growing up from below softens what might otherwise be too straight a 

 line in the framework. 



When the beds and grass patches are separated from the paths by box or 

 some other edging, as is usually the case, the sharp lines so produced should be 

 softened by a freedom of growth in the flowers, so as to attain not only a rich 

 but a soft effect. For the same reason all planting should be done with a view 

 to keeping the beds full throughout the season, --and therein lies one of the 

 drawbacks of planting roses in the central beds, as several of the following plates 

 bear witness. When they are at their best there is nothing more attractive than 

 roses ; but the season is so short in this country that a rose bed will be bare 

 late in the spring and early in the autumn, and is then apt to contrast unpleasantly 

 with more luxuriant growths. Roses seem to produce better results either when 

 planted on the outer edge of the plot or by themselves to form a special rose 



