14 
THE AMATEUR S FLOWER GARDEN. 
how the principal features of a garden may be made to appear 
greater and grander than they really are. I feel bound to say 
that while I would insure for every reality a due degree of 
importance, I would, except in a few peculiar cases, oppose 
the introduction of deceptions of every kind. But it may 
happen that a fantastic screen to hide an ugly object may afford 
amusement to justify its adoption, and a humorous conceit in 
a garden need not be of necessity despicable. As an example, 
therefore, of a pardonable trick, here is a figure of a screen 
which bears the designation “ elephant trap,” in a part of a 
garden which overlooks a road that no one in the house desires 
to see. The trees in the scene are real; but the contrivance 
is a delusion—the screen being flat, and the seemingly long 
winding path being taken up a gentle rise by a curve which 
lengthens it without seeming to do so. It answers its purpose, 
and that is one proof of merit. 
AN ELEPHANT TRAP. 
