DEPARTMENT III. Landscaping and Floriculture. 



THE LANDSCAPE ART. 



The Americans, as a people, are more lavish in their house-building than any other 

 people on the face of the earth. Not only native-born Americans, but perhaps a majority 

 of those who "come from o'er the sea" have an innate desire for that sacred something that 

 we call "home." Indeed, this is the prime, actuating motive that leads the average 

 foreigner to leave his native land. He dreams of a plot of land that will be his ; of a 

 house (possibly an humble one) that he can call his home. Aye ! "Home, sweet home." 

 How little we stop to think of the measureless effort that has been put forth in this direc- 

 tion, and how few of us think seriously on this one fact, namely: That home-building 

 is one of the prime factors that enter into the vital energies of our commercial activity. 

 Let a serious panic come and see what a paralysis seizes on commercial life. But I must 

 write on economics. 



I desire to raise a question here, namely: Considered from an actual financial stand- 

 point, have we not, in some degree, erred in the methods of expending money ? For 

 example, you are driving along and you see a costly building, but perhaps it is out of 

 proportion to the lot, or possibly the person who graded it was better qualified to dig 

 ditches or drive cows to the pasture than to pose as a landscaper. Or the grading might 



be too stiff, as in photo 134, 

 or the planting might be a 

 huge blunder, beclouding 

 the front and shutting off 

 all views, as in photos 132 

 and 133. At any rate, your 

 mental ability to blend and 

 balance and measure and to 

 judge of correct propor- 

 tions tells you ' ' there is 

 something wrong. ' ' You 

 drive a little farther and 

 your attention becomes 

 riveted on a small property 

 worth, perhaps, not more 



Photo 132. than $5,000. There is the 



lovely green front, like a 

 carpet, with an 

 occasional shade 

 tree. Shrubs are 

 at the side, filling 

 out the nooks and 

 corners. The 

 front yard has 

 either no flower 

 beds, or a single 

 one, a majestic 

 beauty, as you see 

 in photo 142; but 

 that is not in the 

 middle of the 

 yard; that would 

 be too "studied" 



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