LAYING OUT OF GROUNDS 



ground beyond, though it be only a dove-cot 

 or the ventilator upon the barn-roof, or a 

 gardener's cottage, may, by the vagueness and 

 indeterminate character of the intervening 

 barrier, become more surely yours by the pos- 

 session of the eye. It is specially the province 

 of the art we are considering, to avail itself 

 of all within reach of the view, whatever may 

 lie between, and make it contribute to the one- 

 ness of the home picture. True art does not 

 inquire who made the pigments, or whose 

 name they bear, but only, will they add to the 

 effect of the w^ork in hand? If, by cutting a 

 few trees from the copse upon the hill-side, I 

 can bring my neighbor's broad-armed wind- 

 mill into view, I am taking a very legitimate 

 means of availing myself of his expenditure; 

 and if the usual anchorage-ground for my 

 neighbor's yacht is shut off only by a tuft of 

 shrubbery upon my lawn, I will cut it away 

 and enjoy his yacht (at anchorage) as much 

 as he. 



There are many country places which from 

 their position, possess an outlook so broad and 

 grand as to demand no consideration of 

 special views, and \vhere landscape art will 

 find range not only in the ordering of lesser 

 details, but in partial concealment of the beau- 



195 



