MY OWN ACRE 



ordinary gray sort — I have touched no other 



— is a humble medium, and pretentious designs 

 in humble materials are one of the worst, and 

 oldest, of garden incongruities. In my ventures 

 with concrete I have studied for grace in form 

 but grace subordinated to stability, and have 

 shunned embellishment. Embellishment for its 

 own sake is the easiest and commonest sin 

 against good art wherever art becomes self-con- 

 scious. It is having a riotous time just now in 

 concrete. I have rarely seen a commercial con- 

 crete garden-seat which was not more ornate 

 than I should want it for my own acre. I hap- 

 pen to have two or three articles in my garden 

 which are a trifle elaborate but they are of 

 terra-cotta, are not home-made and would be 

 plainer could I have found them so. 



A garden needs furniture only less than a 

 house, and concrete is a boon to "natural" gar- 

 dening, being inexpensive, rustic, and imperish- 

 able. I fancy a chief reason why there is such 

 inconsiderate dearth of seats and steps in our 

 American amateur gardens is the old fashion 



— so well got rid of at any cost — of rustic 



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