Book III. 



CONVENIENT DECORATIONS. 



355 



able or suspended rails, like the German sclilagbaum {Jig. 324. ), may be introduced 

 according to tlie character of the scene. ^ 



1 803. Rails or fences, for parks and garden-scenery, are, as to lines, similarly character- 

 ised as gates ; and, like gates, 327 

 fences are of many species, 

 from the rudest barriers with- 

 out nails or iron work [Jig. 

 327.) to the numerous sorts 

 of iron and wire barriers. 

 Hurdles, whether of wood or 

 iron, are the most convenient 

 description of temporary fences. They are manufactured of various forms and dimen- 

 sions, so as to prove, as to height and openings between the rails, rods, or wires, barriers 

 to hares, sheep, cattle, or deer. "VvTiere iron fences are considered as permanent fixtures, 

 those parts which are inserted in the ground should be of cast-iron, as resisting oxidation 

 much better than the wrought material. It ought, at the same time, to be covered with 

 tar, pitch, or pyroligneous acid, or, whilst hot, painted over with oil. For interior fences, 

 poles or laths may be formed into treillage-work of different kinds {fig' 328.) ; preserv- 

 ing the bark of the former, and pitching or charring the ends inserted in the earth. A 



328 



1804. Walls are unquestionably the grandest fences for parks ; and arched portals, 

 the noblest entrances ; between these and the hedge or pale, and rustic gate, designs in 

 even,- degree of gradation, both for lodges, gates, and fences, will be found in the works 

 of Wright, Gandy, Robertson, Aikin, Pocock, and other architects who have published 

 on the i-ural department of their art. The pattern books of manufacturers of iron gates 

 and hurdles, and of wire workers, may also be advantageously consulted. 



SuBSECT. 2. Convenient Decorations. 



1805. Of convenient decorations the variety is almost endless, from the prospect-tower 

 to the rustic seat ; besides aquatic decorations, agreeable to the eye and convenient for 

 the purposes of recreation or culture. Their emplacement, as in the former section, be- 

 longs to gardening, and their construction to architecture and engineering. 



1806. The prospect-tower is a noble object to look at, and a gratifying and instructive 

 position to look from. It should be placed on the liighest grounds of a residence in 

 order to command as wide a prospect as possible, to serve as a fixed recognised point to 

 strangers, in making a tour of the grounds. It may very properly be accompanied by 

 a cottage ; or the lower part of it may be occupied by the family of a forester, game- 

 keeper, or any rural pensioner, to keep it in order, &c. 



1807. The Mosque is the Chinese prospect-tower, of peculiar construction, charac- 

 terised by numerous stories, designated by projecting roofs and pendent bells. An ex- 

 ample exists at Kevv, and its details will be found in the Plans of the JSuildings, x&c., 

 erected there by Sir W. Chambers. Sometimes the prospect-tower is a hollow column, 

 as in the monumental column of London, that to the memory of Lord Nelson, at 

 Edinburgh, and to Lord Hill, at Shrewsbury ; but the stairs in such buildings are ne- 

 cessarily too narrow for the prospect-tower of country-residences, and besides^tliere can 



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