288 
LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 
upon ground in this country, will generally be limited 
to the neighborhood of the house, or the scenery directly 
under the eye. Here, by judicious levelling and smooth- 
ing in some cases, or by raising gentle eminences with 
interposing hollows in others, much may be done at a 
moderate expense, to improve the beauty of the surround- 
ing landscape. 
Roads and walks are so directly connected with opera- 
tions on the surface of the ground, and with the disposition 
of plantations, which we have already made familiar to the 
reader, that we shall introduce in this place a few remarks 
relative to their direction and formation. 
The Approach is by far the most important of these 
routes. It is the private road, leading from the public 
highway, directly to the house itself. It should therefore 
bear a proportionate breadth and size, and exhibit marks 
of good keeping, in accordance with the dignity of the 
mansion. 
In the ancient style of gardening, the Approach was so 
formed as to enter directly in front of the house, affording 
a full view of that portion of the edifice, and no other. A 
line drawn as directly as possible, and evenly bordered on 
each side with a tall avenue of trees, was the whole 
expenditure of art necessary in its formation. It is true, 
the simplicity of design was often more than counter- 
balanced by the difficulty of levelling, grading, and altering 
the surface, necessary to please the geometric eye ; but the 
rules were as plain and unchangeable, as the lines were 
parallel and undeviating. 
In the present more advanced state of Landscape 
Gardening, the formation of the Approach has become 
equally a matter of artistical skill with other details of the 
art. The house is generally so approached, that the eye 
shall first meet it in an angular direction, displaying not 
