DESIGN 51 



ings. Now, the Japanese garden proper is a very 

 beautiful and carefully constructed thing, the re- 

 sult of years of traditions and Oriental conven- 

 tions of life, which cannot at once be grasped by 

 the Westerner, but will richly repay a careful 

 study. 



Most of the Japanese gardens found in this part 

 of the world are treated f addishly, as stage prop- 

 erty or pieces of scenery, and consequently they 

 cannot be considered as the outgrowth of condi- 

 tions. In fact, some essentially Japanese detail is 

 often introduced into an entirely foreign scheme 

 an Italian garden for instance in such a way as 

 to spoil both the intrinsic beauty of the detail and 

 the whole garden scheme as well. 



If a carefully designed Japanese garden is se- 

 cluded, and so placed as to be seen by itself alone, 

 as it would be under native conditions, it can be 

 used anywhere for its individual interest and pic- 

 turesqueness. It cannot, however, be used as a 

 part of an ordinary garden scheme with any de- 

 gree of satisfaction. 



In both the formal and the informal types there 

 must be soTngj^oTninant. design idea with which the 

 rest of the scheme must be harmonized, and this is 

 true of all design, as has already been insisted 



