Flagstone for Walks in Kitchen-Gardens. 291 



affords to the artist a most powerful and effective instrument ; 

 but whether for good or evil depends entirely upon the other 

 features of the scene. There is no rule without exception : but, 

 in general, we may assert that the highest degree of keeping and 

 order ; the most graceful and flowing disposition of lines, whether 

 of gravel walks or water ; and the selection of shrubs possessing 

 the most light and airy growth and foliage, are the preparations 

 necessary for the vase ; indeed, I may add, for most of those 

 forms of unrivalled beauty which Greece and Rome have be- 

 queathed to the world, and of which it may, with truth, be said 

 That the best modern artist is he who is the most capable of duly 

 appreciating their excellence. 



If, with humbler views and limited means, we aim only at 

 giving a picturesque and pleasing richness to a little flower- 

 garden, vases composed of gnarled and rough wood offer them- 

 selves to our notice : one great advantage which they possess is, 

 that they can hardly be placed in any part of the garden which 

 they will not improve and enliven ; the only mistake that can 

 well be made is allowing too many of them to be seen at once, 

 and thus creating a confused, instead of a rich and harmonious, 

 effect. We sometimes meet with elegant cottages and villa 

 residences, partly covered with climbing shrubs, and standing 

 in the midst of a little flower-garden, to which one or two vases 

 of rustic work give a most delightful and picturesque finish. On 

 the other hand, it too frequently happens that a Grecian vase, 

 though beautiful in itself, is quite unfit for the situation in which 

 it is placed, generally without either plinth or pedestal, and 

 throws the whole into confusion ; giving, by comparison, a mean 

 appearance to every thing around it, while, at the same time, the 

 effect of its own intrinsic beauty, becomes neutralised and lost. 



Brighton, March 13. 1835. 



Art. VI. On the Substitution of Flagstone Jbr Gravely in Kitchen- 

 Garden Walks. By the Conductor. 



The substitution of pavement for gravel, in garden walks, is 

 an idea which has been mentioned more than once in this Maga- 

 zine. Our plan is to employ flagstones, which, whatever might 

 be their length, should be reduced to the exact breadth of the 

 walk; in order that there might be no longitudinal, but only 

 transverse, joints. We propose supporting the pavement on 

 brick or stone piers, which should be founded somewhat deeper 

 in the soil than it has ever any chance of being trenched ; and, 

 of course, as deep as, or deeper than, the soil was moved v/hen 

 the garden was made : the object being to insure the certainty 



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