8 GARDENS IN THE MAKING 



is almost impossible, for however closely one might 

 seek to imitate an admired arrangement, a thousand 

 chance happenings of weather, atmosphere, soil, 

 surrounding features, and what not would give our 

 imitation a character completely its own. We are 

 wont to calculate an architectural effect with the 

 most fastidious precision ; yet often the result is 

 not exactly what we intended. How much more, 

 then, may it be said of garden planning, that we 

 cannot anticipate in every detail the picture which 

 our work will ultimately display— a picture, be it 

 remembered, that will change with every hour, with 

 every season, and with all succeeding years. Yet, 

 if the simple principles have been rightly applied, 

 we may be sure that the result will be fair to look 

 upon, we may even be confident that we are build- 

 ing better than we know, and that the future will 

 not fail to provide pleasure to all who walk in our 

 garden, and will call forth words of appreciation 

 concerning those who first traced the lines which 

 Nature has since filled with her own lights and 

 shadows and radiant colouring. Every artist 

 knows that the medium in which he works must 

 be studied and humoured before he can "ain its 



