50 GARDEN-CRAFT. 



the same pitch of extravagant fancy in England as 

 in France, Holland, or Italy. 



Upon a general review of the subject of orna- 

 mental gardens, English and foreign, we arrive at 

 the conclusion that the type of garden produced 

 by any country is a question of soil and physical 

 features, and a question of race. The character of 

 the scenery of a country, the section of the land 

 generally, no less than the taste of the people who 

 dwell in it, prescribes the style of the type of garden. 

 The hand of Nature directs the hand of Art. 



Thus, in a hilly country like Italy, Nature herself 

 prompts the division of the garden-spaces into wide 

 terraces, while Art, on her side, provides that the 

 terraces shall be well-proportioned as to width 

 and height, and suitably defined by masonry walls 

 having balustraded fronts, flights of steps, arcades, 

 temples, vases, statues, &c. 



Lady Mary Montagu's description of the Giardina 

 Jiusti is a case in point : she depicts, as far as words 

 can, how admirably it complies with the conditions 

 of the scenery. The palace lies at the foot. of a 

 mountain " near three miles high, covered with a 

 wood of orange, lemon, citron, and pomegranate 

 trees, which is all cut up into walks, and divided into 

 terraces that you may go into a separate garden from 

 every floor of the house, diversified with fountains, 

 cascades, and statues, and joined by easy marble 

 staircases, which lead from one to another." It is 

 a hundred years since this description was written, 

 but the place is little altered to this day : " Who 



