112 KECORD OF HORTICULTUKE. 



VIII. 

 ORNAMENTAL GAEDENING. 



There is a certain amount of taste required in laying 

 out any garden, however small in extent. The owner may 

 have never read a book on landscape gardening, or know 

 anything about the scientific rules usually employed; still, if 

 he has ever been ten miles from home, he must be aware of 

 the fact, that some very expensive and pretentious residen- 

 ces look very inferior, for some cause which lie may not be 

 able to explain. There are some very good-looking people, 

 naturally, who never look well when dressed even in the 

 finest cloth. We may not be able to say why, or what 

 particular article ot dress it is which detracts from the 

 whole, but we simply know, to use a common phi-ase, they 

 look dowdy. The same thing is apparent in many a city 

 or country garden. There will be a fine house with appro- 

 priate outbuildings, but the general appearance of the 

 place is inharmonious. The walks are straight where they 

 ought to have been curved ; or there is a right angle where 

 a slight rounding ofi of a corner would have given a more 

 pleasing eflfect. Similar defects are not only noticeable in 

 large places, but in those more humble and less pretentious. 

 It is among the rich that we look for the best display of 

 good taste, for they have the means of obtaining as well 

 as of putting it to a proper use. 



Still, we are sensibly aware that in this country many 



