Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/706

 68-2 COTTAGE, FARM, AND VILLA ARCHITECTURE. obtained by means equally amusing, and, at the same time, somewhat more rational. When cities are self-governed by a regularly organised representative system, there will always be public gardens sufficiently extensive, and furnished with abundance of botanical and zoological specimens, to supply the means of agreeable exercise and recreation in walking through and examining them. We are justified in this opinion by the fact, that rude games have disappeared in all countries, in proportion as civilisation has ad- vanced and been equalised. 1430. The Bowling- Green ought to be well drained, and to have gratings communi- cating with under-ground drains along the sides. The surface of the ground ought then to be reduced to a perfect level, and, by treading or ramming, to an equal degree of solidity ; after which it should be covered with turf of uniform thickness, and after- wards well watered and rolled. It is usual to form a small gutter, about a foot broad, and three inches deep, round the margin of a bowling-green, for the purpose of receiving the water from its surface ; and in the bottom of this gutter the gratings to the drains are placed. When properly drained, however, and turf from a sufficiently porous soil is used, the rain will sink down through it direct to the under drains. The nature of the soil and the drainage are important considerations to be attended to, as one of the greatest beauties of a good bowling-green is to present a dry surface immediately after rain. 1431. The Tea- Garden should be planted with deciduous and evergreen shrubs; taking care that the nurseryman who supplies them does not plant more than two of a sort, and that the sorts have showy and odoriferous flowers. The alcoves may be formed of trellis-work, and covered with honeysuckle, virgin's-bower, and other creeping shrubs ; and, in general, where nothing else will grow, and it is desirable to have a covering of vegetation, Virginian creeper and ivy may be planted. The fountain may be of artificial stone, if real stone is found too expensive ; or it may be of cast iron. 1432. General Estimate. The cubic contents of this building are 107,508 feet ; which, at fi</. per foot, is ^2687 : 4s. The extra-expense of the skittle-ground, tea-garden, and bowling-green will be at least i~100, exclusive of enclosure walls, booths, the alcoves, and the fountains. 1433. Remarks. This Design was furnished us by William Ross, Esq., Architect, Bristol ; and we consider it a very judicious arrangement, with reference to the purpose in view. The yard, o, may be covered ; and the floor over the brewhouse and beer-cellar proportionably increased. From the passage, v, between the tea-garden and the bowling- green there might be a door to a large kitchen-garden, always a most valuable appenaage to a country inn ; as are also proper yards and buildings for pigs and poultry, rabbit- hutches, and a dovecot. These, in this case, are supposed to be placed on the other side of a lane opposite the yard gate, w. An elegant banqueting-room might be erected on the bowling-green, in the situation, x. If smoking is not permitted in the house, there is a small tower, y, in the skittle-ground for that purpose, independently of the alcoves in the tea-garden. The upper part of the tower, y, contains the pole of the signpost. Design III. — A small Village Inn, or Alehovse, in the Italian Gothic Manner. 1434. Accommodation. The general appearance is shown in fig. 1302, and the ground plan in fig. 1303. In the latter will be found the following rooms: a, a porch, or colonnade, intended for the more convenient reception of company, as also for the accom- modation of the tap-room visiters, who might have seats placed there in summer ; b, the