PART VI. ORNAMENTAL GARDENING. 317 



gated carpet of gay flowers, from April to December, the effect 

 of which, compared to mown lawn, would be as gaiety to gloom, 

 or insipidity to expression — All the expence of mowing would 

 be avoided, and all the smoothness necessary for lawn pre- 

 served, in connexion with such a variety of roughnesses as 

 would give the whole a natural appearance. Lawns of this kind 

 exist in nature, and have occupied the pastoral poet. The 

 beauty they would add to artificial scenery is beyond descrip- 

 tion — the economy in yearly management by no means incon- 

 siderable. 



Gravel and sand are useful materials for walks and paths. 

 As these are most generally used in mornings and evenings, 

 when the grass is moist with dew, and also after rain, when it 

 is a great luxury, unmolested by water or moisture, to observe 

 the face of nature, they should always be made of a firm and 

 dry material, and gravel is the best of this kind yet discovered. 

 Gravel walks in parterres and ornamental gardens should ge- 

 nerally be in free easy directions, and with neat determined 

 outlines. But there are exceptions to the former remark in 

 the case of parterres of bulbous roots, and those where particu- 

 lar shapes and figures are imitated. 



Soil is not only of use for growing several of the materials, 

 but also by way of contrast and relieving them. Former ar- 



