690 



GARDENESQUE STYLE OF FLOWER-GARDENS. 



ing kinds of moss : — a Bryum hornum ; 

 b Cenomyce rangiferina ; c Sphagnum 

 acutifolium, pink var. ; d Sphagnum 

 obtusifolium ; e Dicranum glaucum ; / 

 Bryum cuspidatum ; g Hypnum squar- 

 rosum ; h Dicranum scoparium. The 

 same letters refer to the ceiling of the 

 portico. 



" The following is the method in which 

 the work is performed. The first thing 

 necessary, before commencing operations, 

 is to have an even close-boarded surface 

 to work upon, and upon this ground 

 draw whatever figures, forms, or devices, 

 you intend to represent." From this it 

 will be understood that the walls, if we 

 may so call them, are formed by placing 

 uprights of sawn timber to form the 

 shape of the house, and to cover these 

 with boarding on all sides where rods are 

 to be used for throwing up the figures ; 

 but where moss or heath is to be em- 

 ployed for the whole surface, no boarding 

 is required, as rods will be nailed to the 

 uprights in the manner of laths for 

 plaster, and the moss forced in the spaces 

 between with a blunt chisel or piece of 

 wood. Where heath is to be used, the 

 rods need not be so close, as the heath 

 Avill be secured to them by sewing it on 

 with a long packing needle and tarred 

 cord. But on boarded surfaces to be 

 covered with rods, and where devices and 

 figures are to be made with different 

 coloured mosses, the first thing is " to 

 get round rods, about half an mch or 

 five-eighths of an inch in diameter, nearly 

 of equal size, and well seasoned. These 

 rods are to be nailed on agreeably to the 

 drawing, about an inch from centre to 

 centre, this being the average space, 

 though it is necessary to regulate the 

 distance, in some measure, according to 

 the space allotted for each sort of moss. 

 Each species should be collected sepa- 

 rately, when perfectly dry. It must be 

 adjusted by placing the top of each piece 

 as evenly as possible, and cutting off a 

 part of the root end if it should be found 

 too long. Take a small quantity at a 

 time, and ram it between the rods with a 

 blunt wedge-shaped piece of wood. The 

 round rods act as a dove-tail ; and, if the 

 moss be properly rammed in, it cannot 

 be pulled out again without tearing it to 

 pieces. The bottom part being com- 

 pressed between the rods, the top expands, 



and so completely covers the rods that 

 not a vestige of them is to be seen in the 

 whole building." 



Seats and resting-places are very neces- 

 sary appendages to all gardens, more 

 especially those of great extent. There 

 are few places where a tithe of the neces- 

 sary number is to be met with. They 

 are not only to be considered in the light 

 of ornamental furniture to a garden, but 

 as articles of indispensable utility. 



Seats, whether open or covered, are 

 objects of considerable interest in grounds ; 

 for, besides being useful, they produce of 

 themselves variety both as foregrounds to 

 look from and as objects to look at. Like 

 statuary in the geometric gardens, their 

 number and disposal require tasteful 

 consideration. In small gardens they 

 should not be too numerous, nor should 

 they be of a cast to produce too striking 

 an effect. Where the grounds are exten- 

 sive, their utility becomes much more 

 apparent, therefore they may be more 

 abundantly scattered about, as well as 

 made to form important objects when 

 seen from a distance. 



Metallic chairs are certainly, if we 

 except marble or granite, the most 

 durable ; and the only objection urged 

 against them is oxidation, which is apt to 

 spoil ladies' dresses. This, however, can 

 easily be got rid of, by painting them 

 annually with anti-corrosion paint, of 

 which there are several sorts noticed in 

 this work.— Vide p. 562. 



Fig. 973 is a wrought-iron chair, greatly 

 admired for its elegant appearance and 



Fig. 973. 



the comfort and ease of its seat. It is 

 less liable to be broken ; and being lighter 

 than cast-iron chairs of the same size, it 

 is much more easily moved from place to 

 place. 



