3 



PARKS AND PLEASURE-GROUNDS. 



whicli must be allowed to modify the final clioice of the 

 site as the best upon the whole. 



Climate of the Site. — The general temperature and 

 dryness of the air have a material influence on the 

 health and comfort of a family, and, therefore, must 

 receive due consideration. These qualities resolve them- 

 selves very much into those of the park, and of the 

 district in which it is situated. Along the eastern 

 shores of the United Kingdom, and in the country 

 adjacent to these, in some places to a considerable dis- 

 tance inland, the climate is comparatively dry and good ; 

 but in spring and in the beguming of summer, when 

 cold withering winds from the sea are prevalent, the 

 east coast is found to be very trying to the constitutions 

 of some individuals. On the west coast, and in the 

 districts bordering on it, there is a much greater degree 

 of humidity, which, though in itseK disagreeable, is 

 accompanied with a softness and mildness that at certain 

 seasons make the climate pleasant and beneficial to those 

 whose health is afiected by the rude severities of the 

 centre and the east. The interior hilly or mountainous 

 regions of our island have a climate peculiar to them- 

 selves; yet with a varying amount of moisture and 

 dryness, and of cloudy or clear atmosphere, they are 

 generally healthy and bracing, and partake of the cha- 

 racters of the east and west, according as they approach to 

 either coast. Some of the inland and slightly hilly dis- 

 tricts towards the east have much of its dryness without 

 its peculiar severity in spring, and may, therefore, be 

 accounted the best. The general climate of the park, 

 then, may be said to be the ruling one for the mansion- 

 house ; but in. large, and even in what may be con- 

 sidered small parks, there are often localities which have 



