LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE. 57 



vision made for sewerage, water, gas, etc. ; and the road- 

 sides and public areas tastefully arranged and planted. 

 In other cases only the principal roads were opened, the 

 lots staked and numbered and sold by the plot. In one 

 instance which has~come to my knowledge, the proprietor 

 has himself built the houses before offering the lots for 

 sale. From the best evidence I have been able to obtain, 

 the plan of making all the needful arrangements before- 

 hand, though involving a large outlay, has proved on the 

 whole the most satisfactory in its results. " Supply 

 creates demand," and purchasers seeing what they want 

 ready at hand, with the assurance that no further assess- 

 ments are to be levied for improvements yet to be made, 

 are ready and glad to pay liberally for its immediate 

 possession. The advantage of building before selling is 

 that it enables the proprietor to control the style, and 

 prevent the introduction of edifices of an objectionable 

 character. 



The success of such an enterprise must in all cases 

 be finally dependent upon the architectural skill dis- 

 played in its arrangement. Men of sense will not be 

 attracted or caught by a mere ornamental design, show- 

 ing that the ground is cut up into irregular blocks by 

 squirming roads, which not unfrequently are supposed to 

 constitute the attractive characteristic of the landscape 

 gardener's art. A curve for the sake of avoiding a 

 straight line, where the latter is most desirable, and no 

 obstacle exists to prevent it, is contrary to common sense, 

 which good taste will never violate. The test of the 

 architectural skill of a design can only be attained by a 



