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LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 
for enjoyment. It is frequently the case that, on that side 
of the house nearest the outbuildings, fences are, for conve- 
nience, brought in its close neighbourhood, and here they are 
easily concealed by plantations ; but on the other sides, open 
and unobstructed views should be preserved, by removing 
all barriers not absolutely necessary. 
Nothing is more common, in the places of cockneys who 
become inhabitants of the country, than a display immedi- 
ately around the dwelling of a spruce paling of carpentry, 
neatly made, and painted white or green ; an abomination 
among the fresh fields, of which no person of taste could be 
guilty. To fence off a small plot around a fine house, in the 
midst of a lawn of fifty acres, is a perversity which we could 
never reconcile, with even the lowest perception of beauty. 
An old stone wall covered with creepers and climbing plants, 
may become a picturesque barrier a thousand times superior 
to such a fence. But there is never one instance in a thou- 
sand where any barrier is necessary. Where it is desirable to 
separate the house from the level grass of the lawn, let it be 
done by an architectural terrace of stone, or a raised platform 
of gravel supported by turf, which will confer importance 
and dignity upon the building, instead of giving it a petty 
and trifling expression. 
Verdant hedges are elegant substitutes for stone or wooden 
fences, and we are surprised that their use has not been 
hitherto more general. We have ourselves been making 
experiments for the last ten years with various hedge-plants, 
and have succeeded in obtaining some hedges which are 
now highly admired. Five or six years will, in this climate, 
under proper care, be sufficient to produce hedges of great 
beauty, capable of withstanding the attacks of every kind 
of cattle ; barriers, too, which will outlast many generations. 
