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Janttakt, 1861. 



' ARDEN SCEI^ES have improved in their composition 

 I considerably during the last half century, partly under 

 the influence of what Ave may term fashion, still more 

 under the teachings of correct taste, and not a little 

 in consequence of the successive introduction of nu- 

 merous exotic trees and shrubs which have proved 

 capable of withstanding the rigours of an English 

 climate. If we analyze any good garden scene, the 

 result which will first strike us is the extent to 

 which we are dependent on exotic plants for the most striking 

 features both of form and colour ; the trees and shrubs indi- 

 genous to Britain, playing but a minor part in all those arrangements 

 where high art insists on bold grouping and ornamental displaj*. There 

 are those living among the veteran gardeners who can remember when the 

 Au.cuba Japonica was an inmate of the stove ; how it went from thence to 

 the greenhouse; and, at last, was found to prosper best in the open air, one 

 of the freest growing and most useful evergreens for massive effects and 

 for relief to darker kinds of foliage. The most common of our common 

 trees have now and then produced varieties surpassing in beauty their 

 originals, and as these varieties proved permanent, they have taken the 

 place of species, and largely added to the number of elements offered by 

 nature to the inventors of landscapes. But with all the variety of materials 

 at command, selections must be made with judgment, and combinations 

 determined upon system, or the result cannot possibly convey, as every 

 garde;i scene should convej', a distinct idea of a sense of harmony. Very 

 many of our public gardens are deficient in the element which is 

 most commonly lacking in private grounds, and that is Ireadfh. Mixtures 

 will rarely produce breadth, repetitions and masses may. The plan now 

 adopted by most planters of keeping deciduous and evergreen kinds apart 

 is in strict accordance with good taste, though no one unaccustomed to the 

 analysis of landscape effects would predicate it. A priori, evergreeus 

 should be mixed with deciduous kinds to prevent the appearance of utter 

 baiTenness in winter. A posteriori, the mixture is a mistake, the deci- 



yOL. IV. KO. I. B 



