38 



PARKS AND PLEASURE-GROUNDS. 



lias deservedly made it a favorite. In the small divi- 

 sional walks in the flower-garden, a variety of tints 

 may be introduced; but violent contrasts should be 

 avoided, and in the larger walks a more uniform color 

 ought to be maintained, as contributing to the best 

 general effect. 



The Parterre, both ancient and modern, may be 

 described as a geometrical flower-garden, laid out on a 

 flat surface, and, in addition to its furniture of plants, 

 adorned with a variety of artistical objects suited to 

 its style and character. The most proper site for a 

 parterre is the platform of a terrace, or some lower 

 level, on which its whole arrangement can easily be 

 seen at once from an adjacent elevated position. Un- 

 less it is placed on such a site, the effect of its numer- 

 ous figures will be in a great measure lost, and it will 

 appear more a piece of entangled complication, than 

 a well-ordered and nicely-balanced geometrical design, 

 which, from its very nature, it is intended, and there- 

 fore ought to be. The ancient parterre frequently cov- 

 ered a large surface. It had its divisional sections so 

 arranged that one side or end was made the exact 

 counterpart of the other, and all its alleys and flour- 

 ishes were repeated with the utmost precision. Some, 

 of the sections were large and plain, and were intended 

 for the reception of plants; while others were cut into 

 an infinite variety of shapes and traceries, in which 

 the edgings, the color of the soil and sand with which 

 the compartments were filled, and the tints of the 

 alleys by which they were surrounded, all went to 

 make up the general picture. The inherent sameness 

 of this style of gardening no doubt led to these extrav- 

 agant attempts at intricacy; and the same result was 



