172 GARDEN-CRAFT. 



to say for them from any point of view whatever. 

 Their wobbly shapes are not elegant ; they have 

 not the sanction of precedent, even of epochs the 

 most barbarous. And though they make pretence 

 at being a species of art, their mock-formality has 

 not that geometric precision which shall bind them to 

 the formal lines of the house, or to the general 

 bearings of the site. Not only do they contribute 

 nothing to the artistic effect of the general design, but 

 they even mar the appearance of the grass that 

 accommodates them. Design they have, but not 

 design of that quality which alone justifies its intru- 

 sion. No wonder " Nature abhors lines " if this base 

 and spurious imitation of the " old formality," that 

 Charles Lamb gloats over, is all that the landscape- 

 garden can offer in the way of idealisation. 



One other feature of the old-fashioned orarden — 

 the herbaceous border — requires a word. It is 

 worthy of note that, unlike the modern, the ancient 

 gardener was not a man of one idea — his art is not 

 bounded like a barrel-organ that can only play one 

 invariable tune ! While the master of the " old 

 formality " can give intricate harmonies of inwoven 

 colours in the geometric beds — "all mosaic, choicely 

 planned," where Nature lends her utmost magic to 

 grace man's fancy — he knows the value of the less 

 as well as the more, and finds equal room for the 

 unconstrained melodies of odd free growths in the 

 border-beds, where you shall enjoy the individual 

 character, the form, the outline, the colour, the tone 

 of each plant. Here let the mind of an earlier 



