THE PARTERRE. 



47 



breadth^ produces an effect, more or less marked, on the 

 flower-garden. Dark, dingy colours, on tlie one hand, 

 and bright, glaring tints, on the other, are equally to be 

 avoided : those of a warm shade, such as light sienna — 

 perhaps the finest of ah — should be chosen, when they 

 can be had. The reddish yellow of the Kensington 

 gravel has deservedly made it a favourite. In the small 

 divisional 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 colour 

 ought to be maintained, as contributing to the best 

 general effect. 



The Parterre, both ancient and modern, may be de- 

 scribed 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. Unless it is placed on such 

 a site, the effect of its numerous figures will be in 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 therefore ought to be. The ancient par- 

 terre frequently covered a large surface. It had its divi- 

 sional sections so arranged that one side or end was made 

 the exact counterpart of the other, and all its alleys and 

 flourishes 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 colour of the soil and sand with which the 



