Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/405

 1868.] Landscape, Decorative, and Economic Gardening. 327 roof, which the mud affords to white ants, the pest of the country. In the still poorer class, and, as a gen- eral rule, in the villages throughout the interior, the walls of the huts or hovels are made entirely with mud, or rather a mixture of clay and sand, tempered to a stiff paste. The roofs most generally in use are the terraced, the "couple" with flat tiles, thatched, and arched. Tiled roofs are more common than anj- other, owing to their durability and cheapness. Of late years — under the rule of the English Government, and especially since the country has been more directly under its charge — there have been a great number of very fine and elegant buildings erected, such as Churches, Court Houses, and some few private dwellings. But, still — owing to the cli- mate, which of necessity controls the stjde, rendering many modifications re- quisite ; and also the great lack of skilled artificers, the supply of such being al- together derived from among the na- tives themselves — there are no edifices which can in any way compare in ele- gance and beauty with those of Western lands. We have now briefly brought down the History of Hindoo Architecture to the present day, having been obliged — through fear of overtaxing the pa- tience of the reader with too many dry details — to omit much of which we might have made mention. The subject is one of deep interest to all who take any pleasure in diving into the records of past ages ; and endeavoring — through the medium of the grand and stately monuments, which are to be found scat- tered all over the globe — to glean infor- mation and knowledge regarding races now passed away forever, but which, in their clay, were undoubtedly very far advanced in civilization and refinement, and their constant accompaniments, art and skill. LANDSCAPE, DECORATIVE, AND ECONOMIC GARDENING. No. 2. LANDSCAPE GARDENING, as applied to the laying out of grounds surrounding private residences, or pub- lic buildings, is divided into two prin- cipal styles, viz., the Geometrical and the Natural. Each of these species has synonymcs and varieties. Thus, under the Geometric may be placed the " Formal," " Architectural," " Roman," and "Ancient." There are. also, the Italian, French and Dutch schools of this style. The Natural similarly in- cludes the terms "Modern," "Irregu- lar," "Mixed," "English," " Garden- esque," and " Graceful." Writers on this subject generally include a third style, termed the "Picturesque;" but we do not recognize this, as a style capable of being defined into rules of practical application. Were we to ven- ture to suggest a third, we would term it the American Style, which would consist of a mixture of the other two, for most of our artificial scenery par- takes of both, and very justly. Although it has become somewhat popular to decry the beauties of the Geometric Style, yet it will invariably be found, that the artist will adopt so much of both styles, as is consistent with his subject. A slight reflection will lead to a conviction of the propriety of this course, when we consider that the aim of the landscape gardener is to unite the regularity of architecture with the varied and flowing lines of Nature. It ma}*- be well to remark, that we here use these terms in a general sense. Every person is aware that the details of architecture are rich in irregularities and flowing