THE AMERICAN GARDEN 



ALMOST any good American will admit it to 

 ^ be a part of our national social scheme, I 

 think, — if we have a social scheme, — that 

 everybody shall* aspire to all the refinements of 

 life. 



Particularly is it our theory that every one 

 shall propose to give to his home all the joys and 

 graces which are anywhere associated with the 

 name of home. Yet until of late we have neg- 

 lected the art of gardening. Now and then we 

 see, or more likely we read about, some garden of 

 wonderful beauty; but the very fame of it points 

 the fact that really artistic gardening is not 

 democratically general with us. 



Our cities and towns, without number, have 

 the architect and the engineer, for house and for 

 landscape, for sky-scrapers and all manner of 

 public works; we have the nurseryman, the 

 florist; we have parks, shaded boulevards and 

 riverside and lakeside drives. Under private 



43 



