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NATURE FOB ITS OWN SAKE 



the parts together, blending them, toning them, 

 binding them into a universal whole. Unity is, 

 indeed, the key-note of all landscape ; and it is 

 the sweeping mass of this foliage, carpeting the 

 hills and running over the meadows down to 

 the scarlet reflection at the water's edge, that 

 reveals and emphasizes the large harmony of 

 the design. 



It is the mass and body of trees, too, that 

 blend into unison the odd groupings wherein 

 form, color, and texture are often recklessly 

 sacrificed. Nature can and does throw away 

 many effects that humanity would eagerly 

 grasp. It rolls a whole mountain-side into one 

 tone of green or yellow with scarcely a break, 

 it ranks together acres of dark pines without a 

 perceptible spot of white or yellow, it rears 

 whole groves of white-trunked birches without 

 a dark tree among them for relief or contrast. 

 The landscape-gardener advises his client not to 

 hang a weeping willow over a pool of water, but 

 nature does it with impunity ; the landscape- 

 gardener advises contrasts of colors yellow or 

 light green against bottle-green ; contrasts of 

 texture the fluffy leaf against the needle-point ; 

 contrasts of form the short, stout tree against 

 the tall, thin one; bnt nature seems to have 



