AND THEIR SETTINGS, 
259 
basket-vase now little used, which we recommend as an appro- 
priate embellishment for a lawn, when filled with suitable plants. 
Such basket forms may be made either of rustic woodwork, of 
terra-cotta, or of iron, and need have no bottom ; or at least only 
rims around the bottoms on the inside sufficient to prevent them 
from settling into the ground unevenly. When filled with earth 
they form simply raised beds to be planted with such things as the 
taste of the owner may choose. The basket form simply gives an 
artistic relief to the bed, and at the same time is so low that it does 
not obtrusively break the views over a small lawn, like those tall 
vases of a garish complexion which are often seen in lonely isola- 
tion, thrust forward “to show.” All vases of classic forms need to 
be supported by architectural constructions of some kind, near by, 
which harmonize with them in style ; or else to be so embowered 
with the foliage of the plants they bear, and by which they are sur- 
rounded, in the summer months at least, that they will gleam 
through leaves and flowers like the face of a beautiful woman seen 
through a veil. The variety of forms and sizes for basket-beds is 
illimitable ; they may be suited to almost any spot where a flower- 
bed is desirable, and can be made cheaply, or with costly art, as 
the surroundings may suggest. We venture, however, to warn their 
makers not to put arch-handles over them. A basket form is chosen 
because it is pretty and convenient, but it does not follow that the 
bed of flowers should make any pretence to be in fact a real basket 
of flowers. The transparency of the deception makes it ridiculous. 
Rustic vases made of crooked joints and roots of trees, and 
twigs with or without their bark, have become quite common, 
and are often made so strongly and skilfully as to be pleasing 
works of art. Strength, durability, and firmness on their bases 
are the essential qualities which they must have. Any construc- 
tions of this kind which suggest flimsy wood, or bungling carpen- 
try, or rotting bark, or want of firmness at the base, though they 
may be planted to give a pretty effect at first, soon become rickety 
nuisances. But those which are “ strongly built, and well,” 
are certainly more likely to have a pleasing effect on common 
grounds than little plaster, iron, or stone vases, and cannot so 
easily be used amiss. All rustic constructions of this kind will last 
