P)12 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Roads should have no meaningless bends and turns ; there must be a 

 reason for every curve ; otherwise one must create a reason, by the land, 

 plants, rocks, or water. Winding roads approaching houses in a sort of 

 corkscrew fashion are wasteful, ridiculous, and false to beauty. Roads 

 are a necessity to minister to the beauty of a place, but are by no means, 

 nor can ever be considered of themselves alone, the beauty itself. 



General Curves. — In roads for convenience it is otherwise. Here the 

 line should not be curved so as to increase the distance much, but only 

 enough to impart a pleasing diversity of outline, and thus to make the 

 most of the land. Lines, in regard to planting trees and otherwise, must 

 be boldly curved, for the more numerous the outlines are, properly 

 developed, in proportion to the length with which we have to deal, the 

 more beautiful will prove the results. 



Drives, which are frequently made to run along the side of a wood, 

 may with much advantage be carried through it, thus creating bold and 

 striking outlines, and preventing a wrong direction being given to the 

 road. 



A road made for the convenience of a dwelling-house ought not to be 

 carried far out of the proper curvature for that convenience, unless indeed 

 good reason can be shown for it, seeing that the principle of the con- 

 struction which we must hold in view is the accommodation of the house- 

 hold. Drives, on the other hand, round a park, to show its effects, may 

 generally be made according to the scenery, so that all its beauties may 

 be fitly unfolded to view. Walks in gardens, shrubbery, &c, should be 

 varied, so as to exhibit the more striking features of the ground, and to 

 display the different vegetable growths in their fullest perfection ; and in 

 respect of scenery it will be better, for the most part, that the introduction 

 should not be too abrupt. For, as an able speaker will not immediately 

 enter into the heart of his subject, but with simple yet forcible remarks 

 will endeavour to arouse the interest of his audience ere he rivets their 

 attention with the treasures of his eloquence, so, in like manner, should 

 the eye and the attention, as it were, gradually be prepared, until the 

 entire landscape shall be disclosed in all its loveliness. 



Walks. 



(icneral Principles. — W f hen the surrounding scenery is beautiful, 

 walks should be conducted over rising ground ; but when the opposite is 

 the case, then they should be conducted through low grounds, so as to 

 confine the view to the scenery immediately surrounding. 



Walks rising and falling in natural and easy curves, in accordance 

 with the ground, impart a pleasing undulation to the soil, and produce a 

 very agreeable impression, and one infinitely superior to any that it is 

 possible to obtain by massing heaps of earth in unnatural and unsightly 

 forms in the midst of nearly level walks. 



] Boundary Roads. 



Avoid making limitation. Roads should not show the limitations of 

 a place. A ground properly laid off has no impressions of boundaries. 

 A boundary road around the property is more or less necessary, but it 



