SHRUBBERY AND SHRUBS 165 



yard and to acquire a new conception of this 

 kind of garden material. Not that we are to 

 make an end of these fine old-timers themselves 

 by any means; but we must learn more about 

 their kind than we possibly can while they as 

 individuals occupy the mental foreground, ob- 

 scuring all else. 



In the first place there are several important 

 requirements in the garden scheme which shrub- 

 bery alone can meet. Screens are needed, 

 sometimes to obscure something which lies be- 

 yond the boundaries, sometimes for the seclu- 

 sion of the place from uninvited inspection from 

 without, and again for the hiding of utility 

 features in one part from the more elegant 

 portions. No individual shrub, however, will 

 provide an effectual screen — for to be effectual 

 a screen must conceal the thing which it is meant 

 to hide so completely that no suspicion of its 

 presence will arise as one looks in its direction. 

 The screen that falls short of fulfilling this re- 

 quirement is worse than a failure; it is an aggra- 

 vation, permitting as it does a suspicion of the 

 thing hidden and rousing curiosity accordingly. 



Apart from its function of screen making, 

 shrubbery provides one of the best flowering 

 mediums that the garden may enjoy — and the 

 hard pressed busy gardener as well. For with a 



