THE AIM OF THE GARDEN 5 



out, display. It is not denied that the accidental 

 effect of certain chance combinations of tree, shrub, 

 flower and lawn may be very beautiful, nor can we 

 even refuse our admiration to some wonderful 

 specimen of a flower however ill-displayed ; but a 

 garden has a greater mission than to afford a merely 

 fortuitous pleasure, its scope is far wider, and its 

 contribution to the joy of mankind should be con- 

 ceived on altogether a different scale. The garden 

 should form almost as much the environment of our 

 home life as the house itself, and while we love at 

 times to be in touch with the unspoilt beauty of 

 Nature, we shall still elect, as human beings, to 

 employ the arts to surround us with the charms of 

 order, arrangement, and carefully considered effect. 



We shall take it as agreed then, between ourselves 

 and our readers, that the architect whom we may have 

 chosen to build us our house, to choose the aspect 

 of our rooms, and to adorn the walls within which 

 we are to dwell, shall not be prevented from com- 

 pleting his work in drawing out the main lines of 

 the garden, nor be forbidden to harmonise the 

 immediate surroundings of the building with the 

 form of the fabric itself. The invention of the 



