ON GARDENS 7 



effect were not all that was to be desired in a 

 Garden. 



The Quincunx mode of planting trees was also 

 known and adapted by the Romans, and is dwelt 

 upon much later by Sir Thomas Browne "as the 

 Quincuncial Lozenge, or Net-work Plantations of 

 the Ancients " in his book " The Gardens of 

 Cyrus," so delightfully alluded to by Pater in his 

 " Appreciations." 



It was one Matius, Martial says, who first intro- 

 duced the clipping of trees into various shapes, 

 thus becoming the creator of Topiary work, the 

 merits of which became such a vexed question 

 in after-years and gave rise to endless vehement 

 discussions on Art versus Nature. The cinders 

 of this controversy are still smouldering, and 

 need but a spark at any moment to burst into 

 flame. This Topiary work brought another 

 art into the Garden the fashion for Statues and 

 Fountains the dark, clipped trees offering a 

 perfect background for the dull white Statuary, 

 and the Fountains, with their ripple of running 

 water, added to the effect. 



Flowers in the Gardens of the Romans were 

 never a necessity of the arrangement. Very un- 

 like a modern English Garden where the Garden 

 is nothing without the flowers ; in fact, the flowers 

 create the Garden ! 



Under the Roman kings flowers were very 



