362 
LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 
out of this long cultivated feeling for the beautiful in the fine 
arts, — in the shape of fine vases, statues, and other ornaments, 
which harmonize with, and are so well adapted to enrich, 
this style of architecture, — combine to render it in the fine 
terraced gardens of Florence and other parts of Italy, one of 
the richest and most attractive styles in existence. Indeed 
we can hardly imagine a mode of building, which in the 
hands of a man of wealth and taste, may, in this country, be 
made productive of more beauty, convenience, and luxury, 
than the modern Italian style ; so well suited to both our hot 
summers and cold winters, and which is so easily suscep- 
tible of enrichment and decoration, while it is at the same 
time so well adapted to the material, in the most common use 
at present in most parts of the country, — wood. Yases, and 
other beautiful architectural ornaments, may now be pro- 
cured in our cities, or imported direct from the Mediter- 
ranean, finely cut in Maltese stone, at very moderate prices, 
and which serve to decorate both the grounds and buildings 
in a handsome manner. 
From the Italian style it is an easy transition to the Swiss 
mode, a bold and spirited one, highly picturesque and in- 
teresting in certain situations. To build a Swiss cottage in 
a smooth cultivated country, would, both as regards associa- 
tion, and intrinsic want of fitness, be the height of folly. 
But in a wild and mountainous region, such as the borders 
of certain deep valleys and rocky glens in the Hudson 
Highlands, or rich bits of the Alleghanies, positions may be 
found where the Swiss cottage, (Fig. 46,) with its low and 
broad roof, shedding off the heavy snows, its ornamented 
exterior gallery, its strong and deep brackets, and its rough 
and rustic exteriour, would be in the highest degree ap- 
propriate. 
