292 On the term Natural, as applied to 



We now need such energetic men as the Bartrams and 

 Michauxs to explore California and New Mexico. Many fine 

 additions to our collections will undoubtedly be made from 

 those regions. If what Douglas sent home is any indication 

 of the flora of the Pacific coast, many new and elegant 

 shrubs yet remain to beautify and embelHsh our collections. 



Our object is to interest every planter in our native shrubs, 

 without rejecting any exotic of real merit. We wish to see 

 our native plants find a place in the garden or pleasure ground 

 of all who appreciate variety and beauty. 



Art. II. Oil the term '■'■Natural,''^ as applied to Improve- 

 ments in Landscape. By Wilson Flagg. 



As one of the essential qualities of beauty in landscape, 

 the naturalness of its appearance deserves particular atten- 

 tion. One is often questioned respecting the meaning of the 

 word natural as applied to rural improvements, and the 

 present essay is an attempt to give a satisfactory answer. 

 Why, of two places, on which equal amounts of labor and 

 art have been bestowed, one should have a natural and the 

 other an artificial look, we cannot always readily explain. 

 If one is stiff and formal, the other easy and graceful, and 

 they differ in no other respects, we should say that it is the 

 formality of the one and the gracefulness of the other that 

 cause the difference in their expression. But there are 

 scenes laid out without any stiffness or formality, which are 

 far from having a natural look, making it manifest that if 

 formality be one of the evidences of art, the opposite of this 

 quality may not always conceal it. 



We should say of the gravelled walks of a highly decorated 

 parterre, how great soever the irregularity of their curvilinear 

 dii'ections, that they do not look natural ; but we say the 

 contrary of a field-path, that winds around the sides of hills, 

 along the edges of ponds and meres, pursuing an irregular 

 course through the vines and shrubbery of the pastures. 



