308 LANDSSAPE GAEDENING. 



turesque bank, and cannot be excluded or taken away from 

 it without detracting largely from its character. There is 

 no reason, therefore, in an imitation of nature, why we 

 should not make use of all her materials to produce a similar 

 effect ; and although in the raw and rude state of the banks 

 at first, they may have a singular and rather outri aspect, 

 stuck round and decorated here and there with large rocks, 

 smaller stones, and old stumps of trees ; yet it must be 

 remembered that this is only the chaotic state, from which 

 the new creation is to emerge more perfectly formed and 

 completed ; and also that the appearance of these rocks 

 and stumps, when covered with mosses, and partially 

 overgrown with a profusion of luxuriant vegetation and 

 climbing plants, will be as beautifully picturesque after a 

 little time has elapsed, as it is now uncouth and uninviting. 



Islands generally contribute greatly to the beauty of a 

 piece of water. They serve, still further, to increase the 

 variety of outline, and to break up the wide expanse of 

 liquid into secondary portions, without injuring the effect 

 of the whole. The striking contrast, too, between their 

 verdure, the color of their margins, composed of variously 

 tinted soils and stones, and the still, smooth water around 

 them, — softened and blended as this contrast is, by their 

 shadows reflected back from the limpid element, gives 

 additional richness to the picture. 



The distribution of islands in a lake or pond requiies 

 some judgment. They will always appear most natural 

 when sufiiciently near the shore, on either side, to maintain 

 in appearance some connexion with it. Although islands 

 do sometimes occur near the middle of natural lakes, yet 

 the effect is by no means good, as it not only breaks and 

 iistra,cts the effects of the whole expanse by dividing it into 



