IS 2 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



prove nature the most frequent error 

 consists in substituting formalism for 

 the naturally picturesque. 



Near my former home there at one 

 time existed a natural Eden of charm- 

 ing" beauty. An entering" wood path led 

 the lover of nature away from the main 

 and sunny road along a hillside to an 

 umbrageous forest, a wild tangle of nat- 

 ural beauty. It was in every respect a 



proved." The landscape has been "cul- 

 tivated." The "landscape gardener" 

 has sent in his bill and departed to 

 make havoc elsewhere. The region 

 has been "beautified." I am thankful 

 when I remember that the sky remains 

 and that the clouds have not been "cul- 

 tivated" nor "improved." The brook 

 has been diverted and now actuates an 

 hydraulic ram, but who am I that I 



"BUT WITH ALL ITS WILDNESS AND GRACEFULLY UNKEMPT APPEARANCE, ONE 



FELT INSTINCTIVELY THAT IT WAS CARED FOR— MORE APPRECIATIVELY 



THAN ANY OTHER PART OF THE PREMISES.'' See Page 156. 



charming situation with an alluring and 

 indescribable environment. 



But soon appeared a sign, '"Building 

 Lots for Sale." The march of "im- 

 provement" was advancing in that di- 

 rection. The surveyor sighted his in- 

 strument and drove stakes. The sound 

 of exploding dynamite was heard 111 the 

 land. A house was erected and more 

 are to follow. Grades have been "im- 



should criticise ? Cleon owns the 

 ground, he says, and Cleon wants me to 

 look at it through his spectacles but my 

 eyes are not adapted to Cleon 's lenses. 



Rapidly the little paradise has be- 

 come a thing of the past. A bank 

 made picturesque by overhanging vines 

 and a sumach thicket has been trans- 

 formed to a harsh wall of broken stone 

 with severe and angular outline. Cleon 



