LAYING OUT GROUNDS. 



Climax — (P.) Plants very vigorous — fruit of a larger average size than an}' other va 

 riety that I have seen; of a beautiful light scarlet color, but not of first quality as regards 

 flavor. May be a good market fruit. G. W. Huntsman. 



Flushing, L. /., August 1, 1352. 



LAYING OUT GROUNDS OF MODERATE EXTENT. 



BY B. M., NEW-YORK. 



We know that many individuals fancy that there is not much to learn on this subject: 

 on the contrary, that " every one knovrs how he likes to have his place done," and that 

 as it is " all a matter of taste," each one can follow his own. 



It is perfectly true that it is "a matter of taste," and this is the very fact which in- 

 volves in it the mistake which those fall into, who have never given their attention to the 

 study of landscape scenery; not in its native grandeur only, but as combined with, and 

 made subservient to the conventionalities of art. The jnistake consists in supposing that 

 persons who have formed a general notion of what they wish done, cannot be assisted in 

 the development and carrying out of their own desires and wishes, by the landscape gar- 

 dener. 



A little reflection will, nevertheless, satisfy the most .skeptical that there is error in such 

 a conclusion. Let any one recall to memorj' his jirimitive ideas upon subjects which he 

 has subsequently studied, and in which he has attained proficiency, and compare them 

 with his matured judgment, and he will be at no difficulty in arriving at the conclusion 

 that his first ideas were crude and incomplete, if not positively erroneous. What he had 

 regarded as perfection, or at least as a degree of excellence which would, at the outset, 

 have gratified his every want, will, with his improved acquaintance with the subject, ap- 

 pear to his mind wholly inadequate to his present requirements. 



The reason of this is obvious. However alive we may be to the perfection of beauty, 

 whether in nature or art, our perceptive faculties in the exercise, admit of culture which 

 augments our powers of enjoyment. That, therefore, which satisfied him in the first in- 

 stance, ceases to do so, when, by greater familiarity with the subject under consideration, 

 we become more conscious of the capabilities of our nature, to derive from its higher cul- 

 tivation, an increased measure of those pleasurable sensations in which our enjoyment, or 

 in other words, the reception of impressions agreeable, whether to our senses or our men- 

 tal faculties, consists. 



Again, let a man travel through miles upon miles of an unreclaimed country, where there 

 js but little diversity of scenery; where no massive rocks arouse the imaginative powers 

 by their sublimit}', and where the absence of water leaves nothing for the weary eye of 

 the wayfarer to rest upon, but the arid ruggedness of barren waste. Let him then come 

 to some favored spot, where the hand of man has raised an oasis in this desert. With 

 what rapture is the first glance of the eager eye cast wistfully around, almost doubting 

 whether the welcome sight is visionary or real! W^hy is this? Because that man's taste 

 has been educated — has learnt to distinguish between the rough features of nature's most 

 rustic garb, and the grateful smile which she puts on under the fostering hand of man. In 

 words, he has unconsciously learnt part of that endless, but never fruitless lesson, 

 by industry, that not only are our wants supplied, but our innocent pleasures are 



