THE NATURAL STYLE. 



19 



importance to demand a turn in the drive arc palpably 

 artificial and worse than useless. Thus, a flower bed in 

 the curve of a drive fills the wayfa^'er with nothing but 

 disgust; for he sees that it might just as well have been 

 put somewhere else and his way shortened by straighten- 

 ing out the motiveless digression. For any moderate 

 distance a double curve, passing first to one side and 

 then to the other of a straight line, will be often useful. 

 While it departs least from the straight line, it gives the 

 most constant change of direction. It also presents a 



FIG. 5. WHERE SHRUBS ARE ADDED. COMPARE WITH FIG. 4. 



greater variety of views. It is essentially the 'Mine of 

 beauty." Yet it would never do to repeat this form of 

 curve unvaryingly. Other combinations must suggest 

 themselves to the designer who has any feeling for 

 outline. 



Grouped trees give an appearance of naturalness 

 because, in nature, trees are almost always grouped. At 

 any rate, they are never set in rows! A good, strong 

 oak grows up, — a patriarch of the forest. There soon 



