88 



Garden and Forest. 



[April i8, iS88. 



proved by many other signs as well as by those recently 

 published articles in popular periodicals, referred to by 

 " Horticola," which have stated our need for more profes- 

 sors of the art. The laws of supply and demand are not 

 always easily followed in their working. It is hard to be 

 sure whether "Horticola" is right in believing that so 

 much gardening work in America is bad because we do 

 not appreciate good work, or whether we are right in be- 

 lieving that it is bad largely because enough men cannot 

 be found to do it well. Yet some evidence of the correct- 

 ness of our belief would appear, we think, if the three or four 

 most prominent landscape gardeners of the country were 

 questioned with regard to their experience during the last 

 ten years; we think they would unite in saying that they 

 are much more busy to-day than they were ten years ago, 

 and that their clients show a more intelligent interest in 

 their labors. We think also that they would recommend 

 their profession as a good one for young men to enter, 

 who are willing to study it thoroughly and are possessed 

 of the energy and enthusiasm necessary to win success in 

 a career which demands practical common-sense united to 

 artistic feeling ; for, even though the demand for the ser- 

 vices of such men is not nearly so great at this moment as 

 it ought to be, yet by the time a student now commencing 

 his education is ready to begin independent practice, it 

 certainly will be much greater. Of this we feel sure, not 

 only from indices found in the most recent history of 

 the art of landscape gardening itself, but from the records 

 of the development, during the past two decades, of Ameri- 

 can art in other directions and particularly in the direction 

 of architecture. — Ed.] 



A Temple in Japan. 



'T'HE love of the Japanese for nature and their skill in horti- 

 -'- culture are well known. But the high level of their attain- 

 ments in the art of landscape gardening is, perhaps, less 

 generally understood. From the witness of niany travelers 

 it seems to be indisputable that no other people has ever 

 approached this art in so artistic a spirit, has so well known 

 how to improve without disturbing the beauties of nature, or 

 has so persistently and universally put such knowledge to 

 use. Formal gardening effects are never desired in Japan 

 — a fact which might be anticipated by any one who has 

 studied Japanese art in any of its branches, since its very 

 essence is a dislike for formality and symmetry, a love for the 

 utmost variety in detail which can consist with unity of general 

 effect. Japanese art in landscape gardening is pre-eminently 

 the art which conceals art. Every foot of the ground in the 

 more closely populated districts has been carefully tended 

 and treated for many generations, yet there are few spots iu 

 which the traveler can decide how much is due to nature's 

 work, how much to man's. Trees and shrubs and flowers, 

 water, and even rocks are sedulously tended with an eye to 

 the production of the highest possible degree of beauty, yet 

 always in such a way that beauty shall seem to have come of 

 itself. Even in the immediate neighborhood of Japanese 

 buildings the same ideal is preserved, and as the architec- 

 ture, compared with that of occidental countries, is of an un- 

 ambitious kind, and as the material used for it is wood, the 

 effect is always what we would call a rural, a picturesque 

 effect. 



The illustration of a Japanese temple herewith given may 

 serve to give an idea of Japanese architecture in combination 

 with landscape. The temple is placed so that those who visit 

 it have an unobstructed view of the sea and of the beautiful 

 line which the shore makes towards the right, while the pre- 

 cincts themselves are agreeably shaded by large trees, be- 

 neath which grass and flowering plants grow in natural 

 profusion. It is needless to point out how picturesque, yet 

 harmonious and graceful, are the forms of the frees — forms 

 not more beautiful in themselves than appropriate as making 

 a delicate frame for the distant stretch of sea. As has been 

 said, it is impossible in Japan to tell in how far anv beauty is 

 due to nature, in how far to man. But we may safely con- 

 clude that the forms of these trees are not altogether natural 

 — that they have been watched and directed year by year until 

 the most desirable effect was produced and then carefully pre- 

 served in that effect. We may even feel sure that the round- 

 headed tree in the far distance would not stand where it does 



had it not been felt that its presonce was fortimate as accent- 

 ing the projection of the shore. Color always aids form in 

 producing beauty in Japan. The temple here is painted red 

 and has a roof of yellow thatch, and these tones, in contrast 

 with the dark green of the surrounding trees and the brilliant 

 blue of the sea, must give the spot extraordinary beauty. 



Such a picture as this is well worth careful study by those 

 who are meaning to build on the pine-grown coasts of New 

 England. Scenes, the natural beauty of which is closely akin 

 to the beauty of this temple-site, are very frequent there, and 

 the utmost effort should lie made by architects and owners, to 

 preserve their charm, to build in such a way that the work of 

 architecture will complete instead of hurting it. 



Spring in Mobile. 



T T was no later than the middle of February when the red 

 -•■ and purple of Verbenas, Drummond's Phlox and Pansies 

 brightened the beds where white Alyssiuns, Candytufts and 

 Narcissus had already been blooming. Of woody plants the 

 Chinese Cunningiiamia, tlie purple IVfagnolia, the Laurestinus 

 and the Mahonias were lilooming early in the month, follow- 

 ed soon by the Mock Orange and Red-bud from more north- 

 ern woods, and the Chicasa Plum, whose true home is proba- 

 bly two degrees further north and on the western bank of the 

 Mississippi. 



Towards the last days of the month the Loblolly Pine, the 

 Liquidambar, the Hornbean, and the Sweet-leaf (Symplocos 

 tiiictoria), one of the prettiest amongst the small evergreen 

 trees of the South, were in bloom. The flowering of the Witch- 

 hazel at this season is worthy of note. Clusters of apetalous, 

 staminate flowers make their appearance in the axils of the 

 leaf buds while still in their winter sleep. Not a single perfect 

 flower was observed, which cover the branches late in the fall 

 with their strap-shaped petals. 



In the garden, the Banksian and Marechal Niel heralded the 

 season of Roses by blooming in the first week of March. The 

 dwarf Almond, and the interesting Texan Buckeye {Un^tiadia 

 speciosa), were by the 12th covered with flowers, whfle the 

 Hybrid Rhododendrons in many varieties displayed their 

 resplendent shades of purple and red. Azaleas, Rhododen- 

 drons and Kalmias were blooming in the forests by the middle 

 of the month, and the swamps were brightened by the flowers 

 of Wax Myrtle, of Andromeda and of the Parsley Haw. 



Not to name a score of beautiful herbaceous plants and 

 small trees blooming in the Pine-openings, I cannot pass by the 

 southern Sloe (Pruniis ^tinheUata). This is one of our most 

 striking trees, and its value for the adornment of park and 

 lawn is not appreciated. At its full growth the trunk is from 

 8 to ID inches in diameter, and the tree attains a height of over 

 twenty feet. The massive limbs spread horizontally at a 

 distance varying from 3 to 6 feet above the ground, producing 

 numerous erectly spreading branches, which divide into a mass 

 of densely crowded spiny branchlets, forming a dome-shaped 

 head often over twenty-five feet through. In its season this is 

 covered with snow-white flowers, which are succeeded by 

 dense green foliage. The fruit is of the size of a cherry, 

 deep purplish-blue in color, and used for making an excellent 

 conserve. 



Almost all of the anient bearing trees found in this section 

 are now bloomina;-. The Beech, the Cottonwoods, the Black 

 Willow, the Swamp Ash and all the Oaks of the upland and low- 

 land, are unfolding their foliage, while on our porches the 

 Wistaria and Trumpet Honeysuckle are loaded with flowers. 

 March 26tli, 1888. Karl Molir. 



Foreign Correspondence. 



London Letter. 



ON March 53th the Royal Horticultural .society met for the 

 last time in its old home, so long identified with the his- 

 tory of English Horticiflture, and the occasion brought to- 

 gether a large gathering and an interesting exhibition. 



Among the new things exhibited but few were officially ap- 

 proved. The most important plant to receive a first-class 

 certificate was a newly introduced Bladderwort {Utricularia 

 rhyterophyUa), which will prove valuable for a stove or Orchid- 

 house. In growth it resembles the white U. mojitana and the 

 mauve-tinte'd U. Endresii, the leaves being long and narrow, 

 but the flower spike is taller and more erect. The flowers, in 

 shape so much like an Orchid as to deceive many persons, have 



