The chief reason why drives and walks should be curved in all places which make any pretense of natural landscape, is because such drives increase variety; and variety here, as elsewhere, "is the spice of life." There are three leading reasons why a curved drive augments variety. 1. It presents different views from each part. 2. The drive is hidden from itself: one does not look ahead over a straight and monotonous roadway. 3. The curves augment variety, because they force upon the rider a constant change of direction and position.

I often meet persons who fail to recognize curved drives and walks as a part of a natural arrangement. One can only reply that drives and walks are at best almost entirely artificial, and the best we can do with them is to throw them into naturallike and varied forms. We simply treat an artificial object in a natural-like manner. Curves are universally present in nature. Rivers and creeks and ravines follow graceful curves. Even when they appear at sight to be straight, a casual observation brings out flowing and varied lines of margin and direction. Even cow-paths are not straight; and I have often remarked to students that the trails which they make across large lawns as shortcuts are always curved, and these curves are many times sufficiently pronounced to answer all the purposes of landscape gardening. I have often challenged a teamster to drive in a perfectly straight line across an open ten-acre field, without taking sight upon a fixed point. Not one has done it.

But it is not every curved drive which is attractive; in fact, I often think that more drives are spoiled by curves than by straightness. A straight drive always has the merit of directness and convenience, while the unusual curves and indirectness of a poorly conceived curved drive distract the attention and obscure any merits it may possess. A few simple and general rules may prove useful.

1. All curves should appear to be necessary or useful. This rule really determines the whole character of the drive. The rest are corollaries to it.

2. Avoid balanced curves - a cork-screw or snakelike motion.

3. The curves should be direct; their general trend in the direction of the object to which they lead. The drive should go where it appears to go.

4. The successive parts should be hidden from each other by tasteful plantings along the borders.

5. The branches of a drive should diverge strongly at their juncture, and they should usually be wholly or partially concealed from each other by plantings or other objects. If drives diverge, they appear to lead in nearly opposite directions, and therefore have the appearance of usefulness. If the parts have the same direction, one portion appears useless. A broader statement is the following:

6. No two drives, or parts of drives, should be parallel or appear to lead to the same object.

7. The nature of the curves should conform somewhat to the character of the landscape. In rough or bold grounds drives may have much bolder and more spirited curves than in tamer places.

The illustration is a good representation of a poor drive. The bare and indirect curves stand out painfully as one looks down the drive, and there is no apparent reason or excuse for the twistings. This illustration is made from a view in one of the best campuses in this country. But the picture illustrates another error often made in grounds which frequently change management. The abominable crooks in this instance are due to the "tacking on" of one drive to another, without consulting the genius of either one. L. H. B.