156 



LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



In the commencement of the operation 

 which we have been considering, I should 

 recommend (as in forming a plantation) the 

 marking on paper the existing state of things, 

 and adapting the situation, form, and circum- 

 stances of the water to be created, so as to 

 produce an harmonious whole ; infinitely more 

 important than the size or even the beauty 

 of the water, simply considered. 



The general form of the water being staked 

 out, the digging should not be taken too close 

 to the form given, but at different places 

 should be more or less within it, so as to give 

 an opportunity for the water to form its own 

 line against the bank. Parts also of the in- 

 tended bank might be left as first broken 

 down with the pickaxe, rather than be more 

 determined by the spade. Upon the same 

 principle, the earth should be so heaped upon 

 the different hillocks as to allow room for it 

 to fall irregularly towards the bottom, as 

 nothing can be more unnatural than a hang- 

 ing level, as the workmen term it. 



Though the principal varieties of form will 

 be obtained where the shallowness of the water 

 admits best of the operation, yet, in forming 

 the head, it is desirable to give some variety 



