Art Out-of-Doors 



but as a frame which encircles a picture it 

 may be made inoffensive, and sometimes, 

 with its bordering plantations, actually ad- 

 vantageous. Too wide and open a prospect 

 is not desirable any more than one too 

 cramped and crowded ; and while planta- 

 tions are often needed to justify the course 

 of the road, they are also needed to adorn it 

 to the eyes of those who pass over it. Trees 

 and shrubs may explain its curvatures, while 

 it will explain the varied charms of shadow- 

 ing foliage and lower masses of green. Each 

 factor helps the other by giving it a reason 

 for existence, and both together may be 

 beautifully brought into the middle distance, 

 at the side of a landscape picture, framing 

 the foreground and affording glimpses, more 

 attractive than a wholly unobstructed view, 

 into the wider landscape beyond. 



To preserve a broad expanse of lawn in 

 front of a house is in itself sufficient excuse 

 for carrying the road to one side. If a 

 minor curve is justified by the wish to pre- 

 serve a fine tree, so a general deflection from 

 the direct line of approach is justified by the 

 wish to secure that broad stretch of green 

 104 



