yS The Art of Landscape Gardening 



Where a ridge of ground very near the eye inter- 

 cepts the view of a valley below, it is wonderful how 

 great an effect may be produced by a very trifling 

 removal of the ridge only ; thus, at Moccas Court, a 

 very small quantity of earth concealed from the house 

 the view of that beautiful reach of the River Wye, 

 which has since been opened. At Oldbury Court the 

 view is opened into a romantic glen by the same kind 

 of operation. At Catchfrench the same thing is advised, 

 to shew the opposite hills ; and in this instance it may 

 appear surprising that the removal of a few yards of 

 earth was sufficient to display a vast extent of distant 

 prospect. 



But this effect must depend on the natural shape of 

 the surface near the eye ; for example, if the shape be 

 that of the upper Hne a [Fig. 6], the object at f can- 





Fig. 6. 



not be seen without the removal of all the earth 

 between the dotted line and the surface, but if the 

 shape be that of b, the removal of the part not shaded 

 will not be sufficient to shew the valley ; and it is not 

 always desirable to see the whole surface ; on the con- 

 trary, it is better that a part should be concealed than 

 that the whole should be shewn foreshortened, which is 

 always the case in looking down or up an inclined 

 plane. 



The most arduous operations of removing ground 

 are generally those where the geometric taste of garden- 



