data, to be refen-ed to concerning the management and future effects, as well as in
pomt of present or future justification of the taste, both of the artist and proprietor.
These reasons may be arranged in the followmg order 1. Recapitulating the given
instructions ; 2. Characteristic features, and other details, of the given situation and
vicinage ; 3. Description of, with the reasons for, the general outline of improvement •
4. Description of, with the reasons for, the detail ; 5. Outline of the future management
; 6. Directions for the execution ; and, 7. Estimate of the expense.
6193. I n all these discussions proper references should be made to the maps and
sketches. Simple language should, of course, be employed in describing future effects •
but, above all, simple sketches, which owe little of their effect to shading, and none to
colouring, or finisliing, are essentially necessary.
619L Girardin seems to have been th e first who suggested this mode of obtaining an opinion svstem-
fefefe? bis remarks on the fallacious effect of beautiful drawings instead of outlines, are well deserving
of attention. Vous tacherez meme que cette esquisse ne soit qu ’un simple trait, et ne présente
f e f e S f o disposition générale des grandes masses de votre
«isemble. Un dessein bien finie ne manquera pas de vous séduire par l’agrément de la touche d ’un
habile a n i ^ e ; vous vous détermineriez d ’après un dessein dont vous ne réussiriez peut-être pas à ob-
ten ir l’effet dans la n ÿ u re , et il faut bien mieux avoir à gagner qu’à perdre dans l’ex¥cutirén.” ^
b lJ ^ liepton has the m en t of employing this system elegantly and extensively in England and of
f e K r e f è i " fef- " f entire landscape to show the previous taste, and another to show the effec’t of th e
^ “ f paper o fth e size and shape of those parts o fth e landscape which require alteration.
I his IS fixed at one edge of the entire landscape, and lies flat over part of it. so that when lifted im ii-
shows the full effect. It must be confessed, however, that though an elegant mode, it is SoÎ S r S f e
foil, since tye view in which the cut paper forms a part can never look so well as the other even from
th e mere circumstance of th e bounding line of th e paper. For some cases, however it ra k rtie u ? ?
¿111 be found, t h ^ two entire landscapes afford the most impartial rneans & judging
of the effects of an improvement. The discussion and sketches of the place and improvements being
finished, and bound in a book, the ground or working plan is to be put on canvas, or copied ou parch?
ment, for the remmon use of the g ^d en e r, or whoever sets out the work; and th e profile put on rollers
to be prtycrved along wffh the book of notilia. These being delivered to the proprietor,minft- after matnrP! delihf^rnlinn q- „rot- Kro ...sii „ jfL . i.i__ . 1 hAe will deter]
vimv a dull and nearly « a t’s ite ,v h e re io th in e ¿as been d o £ r S r i r £ ‘S n t C i t h e S'S;» ge¥e rS
principles are applicable to such places as are to be altered, diminished, or enlarged.
6196. B?j a general plan, accompanied hy others more detailed, of the kitchen-garden,
pleasure-grounds, terrace, &c., and by the explanatory details of the book of notitia, any
prdener of ordinary intelligence may execute the most intricate design, and if this design
has been carefully formed from inspecting the premises, and proper general views have
bpn minutely taken from different points, the landscajie-gardener may show the effect
of future improvements with confidence, and leave behind him the Notitia, or Book o f
Improvements, or, m other words, such plans, sections, views, and written instructions
as may enable the gardener_ gi-adually to produce them, with nearly as much certainty
as an architect directs a builder to raise an elevation of masonry. Distantly situated
proprietors, ambitious of displaying some refinement of ideas on rural matters might
in this way first procure, and then work to, a general plan ; instead, as is often the case
at present, of working according to their own crude notions; and producing scenes
which afford no pleasure to any one but their owner.
S e c t . II. Carnjing a Plan into Execution.
6197. Whether a plan be carried into execution by contractors, or by the proprietor at
his own nsk, must depend on circumstances, both respecting the knowledge, taste, and
leisure of the proprietor, and the nature and extent of the improvements. Where an
entirely new house ¿id grounds are to bo created, the employing of an eminent substantial
contractor for the buildings, and another for the ground operations, will be
found the most speedy and certain as to expense ; the work, in both cases, being liable
to be regularly examined at stated periods by a neutral surveyor, accompanied by the
original 'designers of the improvements. If this mode be not adopted, tlie whole or
grcater_ part may be done under tlie eye of the owner and his stewai-d; as many parts
as pos^ble being 1^ by the job. We shall take a cursory view of the chief objects of
alteration or addition; and indicate some things in each, which may in most cases be
more profitably done_ by the job, premising, that, whenever tlie cost or intricacy of any
piece of work is considerable, unless a contractor of some respectability is employed, the
work IS much better done by the labourers of the proprietor.
6\98. Buildings. All alterations or new erections may be readily estimated and
executed by contract, and, almost in every case, at less expense to the proprietor. Tiic
m re difference between the trade price and the gentleman’s price of the materials and
labour, and between the hours kept and quantity of work done in a given time by a
journeyman to a master-tradcsman, and to a gentleman, will (if the former should, by
error in estimating, find no other gain) afford a certain profit to tho tradesman; and
thus, suppose a contractor to estimate a piece of work at 1000/., which the proprietor
changing his mmd, instead of letting to the contractor, executes himself, and finds thè
amount 1100/., the contractor, had he got the job, would have actually had a profit and
the owner been a gamer of 100/. Every onc who has had much to do with building
or with laying out grounds, must be well aware of this fact. The mansion, domestic
and farming offices, garden walls, and hothouses, may be separately contracted for : and
details for this purpose, from the communications of professional men of science and
experience, will be found in our Encyclopædia o f Cottacje, Farm, and Villa Architecture
6199._ Ground. The removal of gi'ound, fences, or digging, may in every case be let
bythe job with decided advantage to both parties; but the extent of each contract
should, of course, be in proportion to the responsibility ofthe contracting parties.
6200. Planting. The mclosures and the preparation of the soil may, in all extensive
cases, be executed by contract ; but the planting or insertion of the piants, on which
so much depends, should uniformly be done by day-work ; excepting however when
a_ respectable nurseryman will engage to put in a given number of plants of a certain
kind, size, and age, and maintain them there for at least three years. Sometimes the
land may be prepared by fallowing, which the adjoining fanners will generally undertake
at a very moderate price per acre. In most cases, the contractor for fences, of every
description, should undertake to uphold them for a given number of years ; and in the
case ot thorn-hedgcs, or other line fences, until they become sufficient barriers.
^ 6201. lioad and walk making may frequently be contracted for ; but in this case, as
m every other, much wül depend on tlic skill, activity, and experience of the gardener
or general overseer.
ClIAP. II.
Practical Detaih on ike Mode o f laying out different kinds o f Gardens.
620^ The kinds o f pleasure-grounds usually laid out by landscape-gardeners may
he divided into -two kinds ; viz. private and public : the first comprising mansions,
villas, farms, and cottages ; and the second including gardens for recreation, exercise^
anti instruction. To these may be added a third kind, viz. commercial gardens, though
these scai-cely come within the province of the landscape-gardener-
S e c t . I. Laying out the Gardens o f Private Residences.
6203. The gardens o f private residences comprise those of the mansion, the villa,
the cottage ornée, the suburban villa, and the suburban house. We shall give short
examples of each of these.
6204. The mansion and demesne. The characteristic of the mansion and demesne, is
the demesne or sun-ounding lands in tenancy (§ 1574.). Any residence of which the
dwelling-house is of a higher character than that of the mansion and demesne, as the
cartlc, abbey, and palace, has the same general arrangement in the grounds, and differs
chiefly in extent, and in the arrangement of the courts and other exterior appendages
of the house. As a specimen of this style, we shall give, from the works of Repton, the
an-angement at Michel Grove in Sussex, since destroyed, as a residence, and the land
united to the property of the Duke of Norfolk. “ In determining the situation for a large
house in the country,” says Repton, “ there are other circumstances to be considered
besides the fences and appendages immediately contiguous. These have so often
occurred, that I have established in imagination certain positions for each, which I
have never found so capable of being realised as at Michel Grove. I would place the
house, with the principal fi-ont, tow'ards the south-east. I would place the offices behind
the house ; but as they occupy much more space, they will of course spread ividcr than
the front. I would place the stables near the offices. I would place the kitchcn-garden
near the stables. I would put the home-farm buildings at rather a greater distance
from the house ; but these several objects should be so connected by back roads as to
be easily accessible. I would bring the park to the very front of the house. I would
keep the fa rm or land in tillage, whether for use or for experiment, behind the house.
I would make the dressed pleasure-grounds to the right and left of the house, in places
which would screen the unsightly appendages, and foi-m a natural division between the
park and the farm, with walks communicating to the garden and the fai-m.”
6205. The grounds round tke palace o f Rosenstein in Wirtemberg will afford au
example of a foreign mansion and demesne. An elevation of the house has been already-
given m fig . 92. in p. 136. ; and^$r. 984. shows the disposition ofthe grounds.