276 Xan5scape Brcbitecture 



"The first process in the application of this art 

 [landscape architecture] upon any given site is the 

 formation of a judgment upon the capabilities and the 

 limitations of that site with reference to the artistic 

 purpose. It is obviously impossible, for instance, to 

 produce in the vicinity of Brooklyn such scenery as 

 will affect the mind as it is affected by the Alps or the 

 Sierras on the one hand, or by the luxuriant vegeta- 

 tion of a tropical swamp on the other. 



' ' Moreover there are certain kinds of scenery which 

 experience shows to be most satisfactory in a town 

 park, which require an extensive aggregation of their 

 elements. It will be readily seen for instance that if 

 all the wood, water, and turf within a certain area of 

 ground were distributed in patches, strips, and pools, 

 however extensive as a whole, and however varied in 

 detail it might seem to those who should thoroughly 

 explore all its parts, there would be no part which 

 would not seem confined, there could be no large 

 open single scene, and no such impression or effect 

 on the mind would be produced as there would be if 

 all the water were collected in a lake, all the trees in 

 one grove, all the strips of grass in one broad meadow. 

 Such aggregations, and consequently the degree of 

 the impression intended to be produced by them, 

 must be limited by consideration for two other pur- 

 poses, the purpose of variety and interest, and the 

 purpose to make all the scenery available to the 

 satisfaction of the public by ways of communication. 

 Other limitations upon the artistic purpose, again, 



