160 GARDEN-CRAFT. 



Although in old gardens the lower terrace is 

 some 10 ft. below the upper one, this is too deep to 

 suit modern taste ; indeed, 5 ft. or 6 ft. will give a 

 better view of the garden if it is to be viewed from 

 the house. At the same time it is undeniable that 

 the more you are able to look down upon the garden 

 the higher you stand above its plane the better 

 the effect ; the lower you stand, the poorer the per- 

 spective. 



Modern taste, also, will not always tolerate a 

 balustraded wall as a boundary to the terrace, but 

 likes a grass slope. If this poor substitute be pre- 

 ferred, there should be a level space at the bottom 

 of the slope and at the top ; the slope should have a 

 continuous line, and not follow any irregularity in 

 the natural lie of the ground, and there should be a 

 simple plinth 12 to 18 in. high at the bottom of the 

 slope. 



But the mere grass slope does not much help the 

 effect of the house, far or near ; a house standing 

 on a grass slope always has the effect of sliding 

 down a hill. To leave the house exposed upon the 

 landscape, unscreened and unterraced, is not to treat 

 site or house fairly. There exists a certain necessity 

 for features in a flat place, and if no raised terrace 

 be possible, it is desirable to get architectural treat- 

 ment by means of balustrades alone, without much, 

 or any, fall in the ground. The eye always asks for 

 definite boundaries to a piece of ornamental ground as 

 it does for a frame to a picture, and where definite 

 boundaries do not exist, the distant effect is that of a 



