a fine river residence, by cutting up the breadth of a fine lawn with a ridiculous effort at what he considered a very charming arrangement of walks and groups of trees. In this case he only followed a mode sufficiently common and appropriate in a level inland country, like that of Germany, from whence he introduced it, but entirely out of keeping with the bold and lake-like features of the landscape which he thus made discordant.

One of this kind of improvers was, some years ago, very cleverly satirized by Mr. Peacock, an English reviewer of celebrity, in a comic work entitled "Headlong Hall." The latter is the name of the supposed seat of Lord Littlebrain, who has assembled around him during the Christmas feastings an odd party, among whom is Mr. Milestone, the landscape gardener, evidently a portrait of "Capability Brown.” Mr. Milestone has been examining the estate, and, full of his projected park, is exhibiting his portfolio of drawings of the proposed improvements to his host and some of the guests.

"MR. MILESTONE.-This, you perceive, is the natural state of one part of the grounds. Here is a wood, never yet touched by the finger of taste; thick, intricate, and gloomy. Here is a little stream, dashing from stone to stone, and overshadowed with these untrimmed boughs.

MISS TENORINA.-The sweet romantic spot! How beautifully the birds must sing there on a summer evening.

MISS GRAZIOSA.--Dear sister! how can you endure the horrid thicket?

MR. MILESTONE.--You are right, Miss Graziosa; your taste is correct, perfectly en règle. Now, here is the same place corrected-trimmed-polished-decorated-adorned. Here sweeps a plantation, in that beautiful regular curve; there winds a gravel walk; here are parts of the old wood, left in these majestic circular clumps disposed at equal distances with wonderful symmetry; there are some single shrubs scattered in elegant profusion; here a Portugal laurel, there a juniper; here a laurustinus, there a spruce fir; here a larch, there a lilac; here a rhododendron, there an arbutus. The stream, you see, is become a canal: the banks are perfectly smooth and green, sloping to the water's edge, and there is Lord Littlebrain, rowing in an elegant boat.

:

APPENDIX.

SQUIRE HEADLONG.-Magical, faith!

529

MR. MILESTONE.-Here is another part of the ground in its natural state. Here is a large rock, with the mountain-ash rooted in its fissures, overgrown as you see, with ivy and moss, and from this part of it bursts a little fountain, that runs bubbling down its rugged sides.

MISS TENORINA.-O how beautiful! How I should love the melody of that miniature cascade!

MR. MILESTONE.-Beautiful, Miss Tenorina! Hideous. Base, common, and popular. Such a thing as you may see anywhere, in wild and mountainous districts. Now, observe the metamorphosis. Here is the same rock, cut into the shape of a giant. In one hand he holds a horn, through which the little fountain is thrown to a prodigious elevation. In the other is a ponderous stone, so exactly balanced as to be apparently ready to fall on the head of any person who may happen to be beneath,* and there is Lord Littlebrain walking under it. SQUIRE HEADLONG.-Miraculous, by Mahomet!

MR. MILESTONE.-This is the summit of a hill, covered, as you perceive, with wood, and with those mossy stones scattered at random under the trees.

MISS TENORINA.-What a delightful spot to read in, on a summer's day! The air must be so pure, and the wind must sound so divinely in the tops of those old pines!

MR. MILESTONE.-Bad taste, Miss Tenorina. Bad taste, I assure you. Here is the spot improved. The trees are cut down; the stones are cleared away; this is an octagonal pavilion, exactly on the centre of the summit, and there you see Lord Littlebrain, on the top of the pavilion, enjoying the prospect with a telescope.

SQUIRE HEADLONG.-Glorious, egad!

MR. MILESTONE.-Here is a rugged, mountainous road, leading through impervious shades; the ass and the four goats characterize a wild uncultured scene. Here, as you perceive, it is totally changed into a beautiful gravel road, gracefully curving through a belt of limes, and there is Lord Littlebrain driving four-in-hand.

SQUIRE HEADLONG.-Egregious, by Jupiter!

MR. MILESTONE.-Here is Littlebrain Castle, a Gothic, moss-grown

* See Knight on Taste.

structure, half-bosomed in trees.. Near the casement of that turret is an owl peeping from the ivy.

SQUIRE HEADLONG.-And devilish wise he looks.

MR. MILESTONE.-Here is the new house, without a tree near it, standing in the midst of an undulating lawn; a white, polished angular building, reflected to a nicety in this waveless lake and there you see Lord Littlebrain looking out of the window."

V.

Note on Walks and Roads.

In our remarks on walks and roads, we omitted to say anything of the best manner of making gravel walks. We may here state that, where it can easily be procured, pure pit gravel is preferable to all other materials for this purpose, as it binds almost at once, and becomes a firm and solid mass nearly as hard as a stone floor. Beach gravel, not having any mixture of loamy particles, does not become hard until after a good deal of rolling, and a little loam is often mixed with it to secure its tenacity and firmness. A very thin coat of gravel will render a walk superior to a path which consists only of the natural soil, and such surfacing, in our dry climate (though it frequently requires renewing), is often sufficient for distant walks, or those little used except in fine weather. But the approach road, and all walks immediately about the dwelling, should be laid at least a foot thick with gravel, to insure dryness, and a firm footing at all times and seasons. The lower six inches is better executed when filled with small stones -placing the six inches of gravel on the top of these, and there are few new places where this is not a convenient mode of getting rid of the small stones that require to be taken out of the gardens, and various parts of the premises undergoing improvement.

A word may be said here with regard to the color of gravel. Undoubtedly in almost all examples in the natural style of landscape gardening slate-colored gravel, the kind common in nearly all parts of the country, is much the most agreeable to the eye, being unobtrusive, just differing sufficiently with the soil to be readily recognised as

artistical in its effect, while it harmonizes with the color of the ground, and the soft tints of vegetation. A thirst after something new has induced some persons, even in the interior, to substitute, at considerable cost, the white gravel of the sea-shore for the common pit or beach gravel. The change, we think, is, in point of taste, not a happy one. The strong white of this gravel, as the painters would say, disturbs the tone of a simply beautiful landscape, whose prevailing tints are those of the broad lawn and rich overshadowing trees; and the glare of these snowy white pebbles is not, we confess, so pleasing in our eyes as the cooler and more quiet color of the slate or grey gravel. When we add to this, that these sea-side pebbles seldom or never pack or become firm, it would appear very evident that they are far less suitable for walks than the common material. The only situa tion where this brilliant gravel seems to us perfectly in keeping, is in the highly artificial garden of the ancient or geometric style, or in the symmetrical terrace flower garden adjoining the house. In these instances its striking appearance is in excellent keeping with the expression of all the surrounding objects, and it renders more forcible and striking the highly artificial and artistical character of the scene; and to such situations we would gladly see its use limited.

The labor and expense of keeping the roads and walks clean, and free from weeds, in a place of large extent (and some of our seats have now several miles of private roads and walks within their own limits), is a very considerable item of the annual outlay of a country residence. At a recent visit to Blithewood, we saw in operation there a very simple implement, invented by R. Donaldson, Esq., the intelligent proprietor of that beautiful place, which promises to be of important service as a labor-saving machine in cleaning roads and walks. In Fig. 20 is shown a sketch of this implement, in use. In general appearance it is not unlike the frame of a wheelbarrow, except that instead of the two legs it has two iron bars, reaching down to the earth, and connecting with a transverse blade, about three inches wide, which is set nearly parallel with the ground. The handles of the implement are held by a workman, like those of the common double-tailed plough, while the horse which draws it is led or ridden by a boy. With this implement, which is three and a half feet wide,

all the weeds in the space it covers are cleared from a road or walk as rapidly as a horse can walk forward, and it is only necessary to follow with a rake and remove the weeds, and the whole is in good order.

On the lower portion of the upright bars, where they rise from the blade, there is an edge for cutting the turf on the sides of the walk, which performs its work very well and rapidly-the horse being carefully led; and it will, no doubt, answer perfectly for this purpose, in all those walks and roads not directly around the house, or where the greatest nicety is not required.

[Fig. 20. Implement in use at Blithewood for cleaning

gravel roads.]

The simplicity of this machine, the very small cost at which it is made, and the great saving of expense and labor which it secures will, we think, render it a valuable acquisition to all owners of large places, or to those

wishing to keep up a

long series of private roads and walks in the picturesque manner. For smaller gardens and grounds, where the most scrupulous nicety is observed, there is, of course, nothing that will supersede the common hoe, rake, and roller.

THE END.