-
te* ■ m
675
this class may he formed of hazcl-rods; or of any tree with a clean bark and straight
shoots, as young oaks or mountain ash. The spruce lir affords a good outside material:
and five or six young trees coupled together, make good rustic columns. At Bagshot
Park, the Slopes at Windsor, and Bothwell Castle, are good examples of covered seats
ofthe rustic kind (Jigs. 676, 677, 678.).
678
2250. R o ofe d seats o f a more polished description are boarded structures, generally semi-
octagonal, and placed so as to be open to the south. Sometimes they arc portable, moving
on wheels, so as to be placed in different positions, according to the hour of the day, or
the season of the year, which, in confined spots, is a desirable circumstance. Sometimes
they turn on rollers, or on a central pivot, for the same object; and this is very common
in what are called bai’rel-seats. In general they arc opaque, but occasionally their sides
d, to admit the sun to the interior in winter.
2251. F old ing chairs. A sort of medium seat, betweeu the roofed and the exposed, is
formed by constructing the baeks of chairs, benches, or sofas with hinges, so that they
may fold down over the seat, and protect it from rain. After rain, when these backs are
replaced in theh proper position, a dry seat, and a diy back to loan against, are at once
obtained. .
2252. E le g a n t structures of the seat kind for summer use may be constnicted of iron
rods and wires, and painted canvas ; the iron forming the supporting skeleton, and the
canvas the protecting
tegument. The mush- 679 680
room or umbrella form
(Jig . 679.), and that
of the Tm-kish tent
(fig . 680.), the oriental
pavilion, or any
other exotic form, free
from vulgarity and
meagre lines, may be
made choice of on such
occasions.
2253. E xp osed seats include a great variety, rising in gradation from the turf bank
to the carved couch. Inteimediate forms are stone benches, root stools, sections of
tmnks of trees, wooden, stone, or cast-iron mushrooms, painted or covered with
or mat, or heath; tlie Chinese barrel-seat, the mstic stool, chair, tripod, sofa, the cast-
iron couch or sofa, the wheeling-chair, and many sub-varieties.
2254. Sw ings, sce-saws, &c., are not very common in English gardens ; but, as exercising
places for children, are vciy proper in retired but airy parts of the pleasure-
ground. In every country-rcsidence ivhere there are children, contrivances for their
exercise and amusement ought to be considered essential objects; for these piu-poses, a
riding school, and bath or pond for learning to swim and row a boat, may be considered
essential.
2255. O f constructions f o r displaying w ater, as an artificial decoration, the principal
ai’e cascades, waterfalls, jets, and fountains. The foundation of the cascade and waterfall,
is the head or dam which must be thrown across the river or stream ; and in this,
two things are to be considered, its strength, and the materials of whicli it is composed.
2256. W ith respect to strength, the pressure of water is as its depth, and consequently
a dam, whose section is a right-angled triangle, and whose hypothenuse foi-ms an angle
of 45°, with the base formed of any material of greater specific gi-avity than water, would,
as far as strength is concerned, hold in equilibrium a body of still water of a depth equal
to its perpendicular. If the hypothenuse, or sloping side, be placed next tbe water, it
will more than hold the water in equilibrium, by the weight of the triangle of tlie water
superincumbent on the triangle of the dam or bank.
2257. T h a t the m aterials o f the hank must be of a nature impervious to water, and
also must adhere to the base or bottom, so as not to admit water to escape beneath it,
are obvious conditions of the foregoing proposition. The practice of forming clams or
heads is derived from this theory; but to guard against accident, the base of the triangle
is always made tln-ee or more times gi-eater than its height; the slope next the stream
may form an angle with the horizon of from 40° to 20°, and that ou the lower side is
regulated by the uses of the dam. If for raising water so as to cover a hollow where
there is little or no ovei^flow expected, then the slope on the under side is generally of
earth, 40° or 35°, turfed or planted ; if for a cascade, the slope is regulated by the form
or undulations on which the rocks to produce the breaking of the water are to be placed ;
and if for a waterfall, a perpendicular wall is substituted, over which tlie water projects
itself in a sheet or lamina, in breadth proportioned to the quantity of the cmTcnt. In
all these cases, instead of fonning the dam entirely of materials impervious to water, it
is sufficient if a vertical stratum of ivrought-clay be brought up its centre, and the surface
ofthe bank rendered firm by a coating of gravel on the slope next the water.
2258. T h e construction o f ihe w a te rfa ll, where avowedly a rtific ia l, is nothing more tlian
a strong-built wall across the stream, perfectly level, at top, and with a strong, smooth,
accurately fitted, and well jointed coping. On tlie perfection of the coping, both as to
level and jointing, depends the regular disti'ibution of the thin sheet of water to be projected.
Foi-merly, artificial cascades of this sort were cui-vcd iu the gTOund plan, the
concavity pointing down the stream, by which some strength and a better view of the
water were supposed to be obtained. With respect to strength, this can only hold true,
or at least be of consequence, in cases where the upper slope of the dam is very steep,
and the force of the current great; and as to a fuller view, this can only take place when
the eye of the spectator is in the focus of the segment. Where a natural waterfall is to
be imitated, the upi-ight wall must be built of huge in-egular blocks; the horizontal
lamina of water broken in the same way, by placing fragments of rocks grouped here and
there, so as to throw the whole into parts; and, as nature is never methodical, to form it
as if in part a cascade.
2259. I n im ita tin g a n a tu ra l cascade in garden-scenery, the horizontal line must here
also be perfect, to prevent waste of water in dry seasons; and from this to the base of
the lower slope the surface must be paved by irregular blocks, observing to gToup the
prominent fragments, and not distribute them regularly over the surface. In the infancy
of landscape-gardening, the lower bank or slope of the dam was formed into ogee, and
other curves, or a serpentine line, and smoothly paved; fixing, on the convexities of the
ciu-ves, projecting boards across the cuiTcnt; and the cun-ent being thus internipted, was
thrown up in arched waves. Such was the sort of beauty then admired ; for it is a long
time in the progress of improvement before man can see any other beauty than that which
he has himself produced.
2260. T he greatest danger in im ita tin g cascades and waterfalls consisting in attempting
too much, a very few blocks, disposed with a painter’s eye, will effect all that can ho
in good taste in most garden-scenes ; and in forming or improving them in natural rivers,
there will generally be found indications both as to situation and style, especially if the
country be uneven, or stony, or rocky. Nothing can be in worse taste than piles of
stones and rocks across a river, either natural or-artificial, in a tame alluvial meadow:
they may be well chosen fragments from suitable materials, and an-anged so as to form a
cascade or waterfall very beautiful of itself, but whose beauty is really deibi-mity or mon-
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