C H AFTER I. 



ART AND NATURE. 



All nature is but art unknown to thee ; 

 All chance, direction which thou canst not see." 

 POPE. 



prevalent idea that the best 

 decorative gardening is simply 

 an imitation of pleasing natural 

 scenery, is partially incorrect. If 

 an imitation of Nature were the only aim, 



if she were simply to be let alone, or repeated, then a prairie, 

 a wild forest, an oak-opening, a jungle, or a rocky scene, would 

 only need to be inclosed to seem a perfect example of landscape 

 gardening. All these forms of Nature have their peculiar beauties, 

 and yet these very beauties, when brought into connection with our 

 dwellings, are as incongruous as the picturesqueness of savage 

 human life in streets or parlors. All civilization is marked by the 



