Brooks, rivulets, and even rills may frequently be greatly improved by altering the form of their beds in various places. Often by merely removing a few trifling obstructions, loose stones, branches, etc., or hollowing away the adjoining bank for a short distance, fine little expanses or pools of still water may be formed, which are happily contrasted with the more rugged course of the rest of the stream. Such improvements of these minor water courses are much preferable to widening them into flat, insipid, tame canals or rivers, which, though they present greater surface to the eye, are a thousand times inferior in the impetuosity of motion, and musical, "babbling sound," so delightful in rapid brooks and rivulets.* (* The most successful improvement of a natural brook that we have ever witnessed, has been effected in the grounds of Henry Sheldon, Esq., of Tarrytown, N. Y. The great variety and beauty displayed in about a fourth of a mile of the course of this stream, its pretty cascades, rustic bridges, rockwork, etc., reflect the highest credit on the taste of that gentleman.)
