Qyclamen chum^ Bouvdrd'ia triphi/llaf Eranthis liyemdlis. 561 



on the subject, that it is quite impossible to dispense with the 

 principles of art, in forming and laving out gardens which are 

 to be distinguished by good taste. 



There are, indeed, people who are easily pleased, and who 

 are so with trifling productions. To value beauty properly, 

 we must understand what it is ; we must be able to distinguish 

 it, not only from deformity, but from the negative of beauty, 

 or what some would call common-place forms and combin- 

 ations. This faculty is in part born with us, or, in other 

 words, in part determined by our organisation ; but it is 

 chiefly the result of education, that is, of the observations, 

 reflections, and comparisons made by the individual. 



I have frequently observed, in my journeys through Hol- 

 land, that there was hardly such a thing to be met with in 

 that country as a natural group of trees ; and I have, there- 

 fore, found that only those persons who are conversant with 

 engravings or paintings of landscapes can see any beauty in 

 these groups. I was called in one day to point out a situation 

 for a summer-house, in the garden of a rich burgomaster in 

 the neighbourhood of Haarlem. I fixed on one under a 

 noble group of an oak, an elm, and two small ash trees. 

 " We must move these ash trees," said my employer; " they 

 are out of all proportion to the oak and to the ehii." Such 

 were the ideas of my worthy patron, who, you will easily pei- 

 ceive, was neither a traveller nor conversant with Italian 

 landscapes. What was I to do ? I will tell you in my next 

 letter. 



Ghent ^ Jime^ 1831. H. K. K. 



{To he conthmed.) 



Art. IV. On the Cultivation of the Cyclamen coum, Bouvardia, 

 triphylla, and Eranthis hyemdlis. By Mr. James Housman. 



Sir, 



Mr. Wilmot's successful culture and strong recommend- 

 ation of the Cyclamen persicum, as described in your Vol. L 

 p. 386., and Vol. IT. p. 377., have induced me to pay atten- 

 tion to its no less beautiful congener Cyclamen coum ; which, 

 in my opinion, deserves to be rescued from that neglect to which 

 its easy propagation and consequent commonness have sub- 

 jected it. Sow the seeds as soon as ripe, in the month of May, 

 in a wide pan or pot well drained ; fine leaf mould is the most 

 suitable ; place them on a dry bottom in any shady part of 

 the flower-garden. In October, remove them to a cold frame 



Vol. VII, — No. 34. o o 



