leaves the lawn and traverses the farm, giving the proprietor an opportunity to examine his crops, or exhibit his agricultural resources to his friends.

Walks are laid out for purposes similar to Drives, but are much more common, and may be introduced into every scene, however limited. They are intended solely for promenades or exercise on foot, and should therefore be dry and firm, if possible, at all seasons when it is desirable to use them. Some may be open to the south, sheltered with evergreens, and made dry and hard for a warm promenade in winter; others formed of closely mown turf, and thickly shaded by a leafy canopy of verdure, for a cool retreat in the midst of summer. Others again may lead to some sequestered spot, and terminate in a secluded rustic seat, or conduct to some shaded dell or rugged eminence, where an extensive prospect can be enjoyed. Indeed, the genius of the place must suggest the direction, length, and number of the walks to be laid out, as no fixed rules can be imposed in a subject so everchanging and different. should, however, never be forgotten, that the walk ought always to correspond to the scene it traverses, being rough where the latter is wild and picturesque, sometimes scarcely differing from a common footpath, and more polished as the surrounding objects show evidences of culture and high keeping. In direction, like the approach, it should take easy flowing curves, though it may often turn more abruptly at the interposition of an obstacle. The chief beauty of curved and bending lines in walks, lies in the new scenes which by means of them are opened to the eye. In the straight walk of half a mile the whole is seen at a glance, and there is too often but little to excite the spectator to pursue the search; but in the modern style, at

It

every few rods, a new turn in the walk opens a new prospect to the beholder, and "leads the eye," as Hogarth graphically expressed it, "a kind of wanton chase,” continually affording new refreshment and variety.

Fences are often among the most unsightly and offensive objects in our country seats. Some persons appear to have a passion for subdividing their grounds into a great number of fields; a process which is scarcely ever advisable even in common farms, but for which there can be no apology in elegant residences. The close proximity of fences to the house gives the whole place a confined and mean character. "The mind," says Repton, "feels a certain disgust under a sense of confinement in any situation, however beautiful." A wide-spread lawn, on the contrary, where no boundaries are conspicuous, conveys an impression of ample extent and space for enjoyment. It is frequently the case that, on that side of the house nearest the outbuildings, fences are, for convenience, brought in its close neighborhood, 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 immediately 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 thousand 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. The common Arbor Vitæ (or flat Cedar), which grows in great abundance in many districts, forms one of the most superb hedges, without the least care in trimming; the foliage growing thickly down to the very ground, and being evergreen, the hedge remains clothed the whole year. Our common Thorns, and in particular those known in the nurseries as the Newcastle and Washington thorns, form hedges of great strength and beauty. They are indeed much better adapted to this climate than the English Hawthorn, which often suffers from the unclouded radiance of our midsummer sun. In autumn, too, it loses its foliage much sooner than our native sorts, some of which assume a brilliant scarlet when the foliage is fading in autumn. In New England, the Buckthorn is preferred from its rapid and luxuriant

growth ;* and in the middle states, the Maclura, or Osage Orange, is becoming a favorite for its glossy and polished foliage. The Privet, or Prim, is a rapid growing shrub, well fitted for interior divisions. Picturesque hedges are easily formed by intermingling a variety of flowering shrubs, sweet briers, etc., and allowing the whole to grow together in rich masses. For this purpose the Michigan rose is admirably adapted at the north, and the Cherokee rose at the south. In all cases where hedges are employed in the natural style of landscape (and not in close connexion with highly artificial objects, buildings, etc.), a more agreeable effect will be produced by allowing the hedge to grow somewhat irregular in form, or varying it by planting near it other small trees and shrubs to break the outline, than by clipping it in even and formal lines. Hedges may be obtained in a single season, by planting long shoots of the osier willow, or any other tree which throws out roots easily from cuttings.

A simple and pleasing barrier, in good keeping with cottage residences, may be formed of rustic work, as it is termed. For this purpose, stout rods of any of our native forest trees are chosen (Cedar being preferable) with the bark on, six to ten feet in length; these are sharpened and driven into the ground in the form of a lattice, or wrought into any figures of trellis that the fancy may suggest. When covered with luxuriant vines and climbing plants, such a barrier is often admirable for its richness and variety.

* The Buckthorn is perhaps the best plant where a thick screen is very speedily desired. It is not liable to the attack of insects; grows very thickly at the bottom, at once; and will make an efficient screen sooner than almost any other plant.

The sunken fence, fosse, or ha-ha, is an English invention, used in separating that portion of the lawn near the house, from the part grazed by deer or cattle, and is only a ditch sufficiently wide and deep to render communication difficult on opposite sides. When the ground slopes from the house, such a sunk fence is invisible to a person near the latter, and answers the purpose of a barrier without being in the least obtrusive.

In a succeeding section we shall refer to terraces with their parapets, which are by far the most elegant barriers for a highly decorated flower garden, or for the purpose of maintaining a proper connexion between the house and the grounds, a subject which is scarcely at all attended to, or its importance even recognised as yet among us.