Evolution of t>ortfculture 



posed heath or desert, which, should ter- 

 minate the garden grounds and " should 

 be framed as much as may be to a natural 

 wildness." 



Sir William Temple, in his Garden of 

 Epicurus inculcates the taste for the prim- 

 ness, formality, and stiffness so generally 

 prevalent in England at the date of its pub- 

 lication, and which he had seen carried 

 to its full extent in Holland, in the laying 

 out of pleasure grounds and gardens. 



He advises his readers not to follow the 

 example of the Chinese in the selection 

 of garden designs. "In place of such 

 irregularities, Among us, the Beauty of 

 Building and Planting is placed chiefly 

 in some certain Proportions, Symmetries, 

 or Uniformities : our Walks and our Trees 

 ranged so as to answer one another, and 

 at exact distances." Again, as to the 

 irregular forms, Temple says : " I should 

 hardly advise any of these attempts in 

 the figures of gardens among us : they 

 are adventures of too hard achievement 

 for any common hands, and though there 

 38 



