132 PARKS AND PLEASURE-GROUNDS . 



a poor and pedantic taste which can derive pleasure 

 only from one kind of beauty. The main features of 

 this style, in the park, are avenues and alleys, the lat- 

 ter being sometimes parallel, sometimes crossing each 

 other obliquely, or radiating from a common center ; 

 and in the pleasure-grounds, in addition to these, the 

 principal characteristics are terraces, stairs, fountains, 

 and statues. Portions of these means of ornament 

 have been adopted with good effect in many well-laid- 

 out places. We should be disposed to recommend 

 them, as indeed we have, in connection with the man- 

 sion-house and flower-garden. "When the structure of 

 the ground is favorable, they form a suitable transition 

 from the highly artificial forms of architecture, to the 

 free, unconstrained developments of natural objects. 

 In the park, angular and radiating alleys are perhaps 

 tolerable only in level situations, or when they can be 

 viewed from a moderately elevated platform occupied 

 by the mansion-house. 



Avenues. — We seldom recommend the planting of 

 avenues in the park, except in certain localities noticed 

 in our remarks on the approach. The stiff formality 

 of the avenue is injurious to park scenery, as it fre- 

 quently divides, by its straight lines, a fine expanse of 

 grass, and obscures the most interesting part of the 

 landscape. Another objection to the avenue is, that 

 it requires to grow for the lifetime of two or three 

 generations, before it produces its full effect ; and it is 

 not surprising, therefore, that it is so seldom planted. 

 The same trees, arranged in groups and clumps, would 

 present a beautiful appearance in one-third of the 

 time. 



Avenues should hardly ever be attempted, except 



