CHAPTER XVI. JAPANESE GARDENING FOR SMALL AREAS 



I. A Japanese Garden in an American Yard 



By William Verbeck 



ORN and brought up in Japan, my natural playground was the 

 Japanese garden. I was happy when I drowsed away a hot 

 afternoon under a distorted pine, on the shady side of a child 

 mountain, with a book about elves and dwarfs in my hand ; 

 and in my imagination I would people the little hills and 

 dells with the wee folk Later, when the maples were red, a score 

 of my Japanese playmates would join me in mimic war; and, armed 

 with bamboo lances and swords, we attacked and counterattacked, now 

 hiding in mountain fastnesses, now wading through iris ponds. The masking 

 of hill behind hill and the artful vistas of the ancient garden-builder had 

 prepared for us an ideal stage for strategy and battle. As I grew older, 



'With rye straw I thaiched ihc cate. My fences were made of bamboo fishing poles tied with rough hemp rope' 



