CHOICE OF FLOWERS 



den than for some of the grounds In which it is 

 essayed, it is so extremely formal and difficult 

 that for the amateur it is best left alone. The 

 carpet bed reproduces as closely as possible the 

 texture of a rug, and it is in these close-cropped 

 and solid masses of vegetation that we find those 

 horrors which are supposed to be the joy of Jake 

 and Maggie in their walks through the parks: 

 pictures, in plants, of eagles, harps, soldiers, 

 ships and other devices so exceeding cute that 

 you think of the man who inv^ented them as sit- 

 ting up with them all night to check the growth 

 of a leaf here, a stem there and a flower in the 

 other place, lest the sharp edging of a stripe or 

 circle or curve be marred. To plan some of 

 these foliage mosaics requires a geometrician, a 

 gardener, a botanist in one, and the unceasing 

 service of a laborer or an enthusiast is exacted to 

 keep them in order after they have been planned 

 and planted. Flowers growing as nature In- 

 tended them to grow, in beds, to be sure, but un- 

 restrained and helped, are of necessity more 

 beautiful than plants collected into cities of their 

 kind without elbow-room or breathing-room, tor- 

 tured for a show. 



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