330 APPENDIX 



"Gardens Old and New." Turn to the illustration of "formal 

 gardens" and of formal designs; look at them with a thought 

 in your minds of some lovely effects of planting done by nature 

 or by some man who loved her, and tell yourselves honestly 

 what you think of the new-old art. These designs were made 

 with a foot-rule, a straight-edge, and a pair of compasses, and 

 might have been made by an architect, for in his legitimate 

 profession he needs no other tools. 



We Americans are a fickle people and are much inclined to 

 change our fashions, not only in dress, but in more serious 

 things. It is this desire for a change for the sake of a change 

 which has prevented the normal development of architecture 

 and stunted the growth of every style in its early youth ; but 

 we are also quick to learn and quick to adopt any new thing 

 which is good. The love of the beautiful has only recently 

 begun to develop in this country and the taste of the people is 

 in a formative state and they are just beginning to realize that 

 such an art as landscape-gardening exists. The architects have 

 done much to improve the taste of the dwellers in cities ; but 

 only landscape-gardening can reach the great mass of the 

 nation and elevate their taste by teaching them to appreciate 

 the charming things growing wild about them, and ultimately 

 to appreciate everything that is beautiful in nature and art. 



A heavy responsibility rests on the leaders in landscape- 

 gardening. They can check the vagaries and inanities which 

 are creeping into it, and which, unchecked, will prove its ruin, 

 and will have a far-reaching effect in giving the nation a false 

 and perverted taste. They, and they alone, can correct its 

 decadent tendencies and maintain the standard which entitles 

 it to rank among the fine arts, and which will lead to its highest 

 development. 



Michael Angelo gave up painting in oils and adopted frescos 

 and architecture because they gave a wider scope for his tre- 



