ardens takes his pleasure.

The larger an estate the less necessary is it to make it merely neat,
and symmetrical, especially in those parts of the ground that are
distant from the house; but near the architecture some degree of finish
and precision is always necessary, or at least advisable, to prevent the
too sudden contrast between the straight lines and artificial
construction of the dwelling and the flowing curves and wild but
beautiful irregularities of nature unmoulded by art. A garden adjacent
to the house should give the owner a sense of _home_. He should not feel
himself abroad at his own door. If it were only for the sake of variety
there should be some distinction between the private garden and the open
field. If the garden gradually blends itself with a spacious park or
chase, the more the ground recedes from the house the more it may
legitimately assume the aspect of a natural landscape. It will then be
necessary to appeal to the eye of a landscape gardener or a painter or a
poet before the owner, if ignorant of the principles of fine art,
attempt the completion of the general design.

I should like to see my Native friends who have extensive grounds, vary
the shape of their tanks, but if they dislike a more natural form of
water, irregular or winding, and are determined to have them with four
sharp corners, let them at all events avoid the evil of several small
tanks in the same "compound." A large tank is more likely to have good
water and to retain it through the whole summer season than a smaller
one and is more easily kept clean and grassy to the water's edge. I do
not say that it would be proper to have a piece of winding water in a
small compound--that indeed would be impracticable. But even an oval or
round tank would be better than a square one.[119]

If the Native gentry could obtain the aid of tasteful gardeners, I would
recommend that the level land should be varied with an occasional
artificial elevation, nicely sloped or graduated; but Native _malees_
would be sure to aim rather at the production of abrupt round knobs
resembling warts or excrescences than easy and natural undulations of
the surface.

With respect to lawns, the late Mr. Speede recommended the use of the
_doob_ grass, but it is so extremely difficult to keep it clear of any
intermixture of the _ooloo_ grass, which, when it intrudes upon the
_doob_ gives the lawn a patchwork and shabby look, that it is better to
use the _ool