246 Design for a Flonsoer-Garden. 



and position by the lines of the walks and the fancy of the artist ; 

 and hence their boundaries should be curvilineal ; and always 

 so coincident with the lines of the walk, or those of the adjoin- 

 ing beds, or of some other fixed object, as not to admit of being 

 moved either to the right or left, or backwards or forwards, 

 without deranging the harmony of the plan. All that is wanting 

 to render Floretus competent to remedy these defects is, a great 

 deal of practice in drawing ornamental forms. This, presuming 

 him to be a young man, may be done from copies of ornaments 

 of any kind abounding in curved lines, first on paper with a 

 pencil or a pen ; afterwards with a pointed stick on a garden 

 plot, previously raked very smooth ; next on a larger scale, by 

 sticking stakes in a field ; and, lastly, on a large fallow field, by 

 walking the figure, and having the footsteps made, immediately 

 followed by a plough and pair of horses, the ploughman keeping 

 his eye constantly on the artist. We have ourselves traced out 

 many miles of picturesque outline for plantation, in this way, 

 in Wigtonshire, Perthshire, East Lothian, and Oxfordshire. 

 What we would strongly recommend to Floretus, however, is, to 

 draw ornaments on paper, and on the ground with a stick, for 

 days, weeks, and months, before attempting figures in the fields. 

 If he cannot procure engraved copies, let him first take plain 

 leaves, then compound leaves, next leaves and stems, and then 

 leaves, stems, roots, and flowers, and draw them on paper, and 

 on the soil in the garden, till it becomes easy to him to delineate 

 any object whatever; and till he feels and knows what it is to 

 delineate an object in an artist-like manner, and what it is to 

 produce an artist-like outline or form. It may be thought that, 

 in requiring this, we are requiring more time and attention than 

 young gardeners in general can afford. Possibly this may be so; 

 but we do not believe it. Suppose a young gardener to be three 

 years in learning his business, six or eight hours spent in drawing 

 every week, during that period, would effect every thing that 

 could be desired. Such a gardener would lay out flower-gardens 

 very differently indeed from nine tenths of those who lay them 

 out at present. Such a gardener, also, would be able to give 

 instant proof, to any lady or gentleman intending to employ him, 

 whether or not he was competent to lay out a flower-garden ; for 

 all that would be necessary would be, to lay a sheet of paper 

 before him, and put a pencil in his hand. For our own part we 

 would accept of no other test whatever for a landscape-gardener, 

 or even for a layer-out of flower-gardens, where the beauty to 

 be produced was of an irregular kind, than that of the compe- 

 tency of the artist to trace outlines, and to give reasons for every 

 turn and for every form produced. 



Fig. 2,1. shows the plan of Floretus, rendered what we call 

 artist-like. It will be observed, that we have shown all the 



