September i6, 1891.] 



Garden and Forest. 



433 



GARDEN AND FOREST. 



PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY 



THE GARDEN AND FOREST PUBLISHING CO. 



Office: Tribune Building, New York. 



Conducted by- 



Professor C. S. Sargent. 



ENTERED AS SECOND-CLASS MATTER AT THE POST OFFICE AT NEW YORK, N. Y. 



NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1891. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 



Editorial Articles: — Artist and Client 433 



Laws to Protect Street-trees '. 434 



A Garden Pool. (With figure.) 434 



A Fine Road 435 



Notes on North American Trees. — XXVII Professor C. S. Sargent. 435 



New or Little-known Plants: — Cereus (Pilocereus) Sargentianus.C R. Orcutt. 436 



Foreign Correspondence :— London Letter W. Goldring. 436 



Cultural Department : — Iris reticulata and its Allies Max Leichtlin. 438 



Keeping Fruit in Winter T. H. Hoskins, M.D. 439 



Dracaenas IV. H. Taplin. 440 



Notes on American Plants F. H. Horsford. 440 



Hybridizing the Sweet Pea Rev. IV. T. Hutchins. 440 



Correspondence : — Gardening on the Shores of Buzzards Bay... Win. Minot, Jr. 441 



Pitch Pine from Seed Bayberry. 442 



Recent Publications 442 



Periodical Literature 443 



Notes 444 



Illustrations :— Cereus (Pilocereus) Sargentianus, Fig. 69 437 



A Garden Pool, Fig. 70 439 



Artist and Client. 



N the magnificent city of Ephesus," wrote Vitruvius 

 nearly nineteen centuries ago, " there was an ancient 

 law, hard indeed, but equitable, to the effect that when an 

 architect was entrusted with the execution of a public work, 

 an estimate thereof being lodged in the hands of the magis- 

 trate, his property was held as security until the work was 

 finished. If, when finished, the expense did not exceed the 

 estimate, he was complimented with degrees and honors. 

 So when the excess did not amount to more than one- 

 fourth of the estimate, no punishment was inflicted. But 

 when the excess was greater than this amount the architect 

 was required to pay it out of his own pocket. Would that 

 such a law existed among the Roman people, not only in 

 respect of their public, but also of their private, buildings, 

 for then unskillful architects would not commit their depre- 

 dations with impunity, and only those who were the most 

 skillful in the intricacies of the art would practice it. Pro- 

 prietors would not be led into ruin through extravagant 

 expenditure. Architects themselves would be constrained 

 to closer accuracy in their calculations, and the proprietor 

 would complete his building for the amount, or a little 

 more than the amount, which he expected to expend. Those 

 who can afford a given sum for any work would cheer- 

 fully add one-fourth more in the pleasing expectation of 

 seeing it completed ; but when they find themselves bur- 

 dened with the addition of half, or even more than half, 

 the expense originally contemplated, they lose heart, and 

 are willing to sacrifice what has been already laid out." 



This passage is an interesting proof that human nature 

 has not greatly changed in nineteen centuries, and that 

 even the wonderful legal system of Rome, like the modern 

 American system, did not cover all possible contingencies 

 of dispute. How far an artist is justified in "exceeding 

 the estimates " agreed upon at the outset of his labors, is a 

 question still as frequently discussed as it was in the time 

 of Augustus. Clients still protest that they are robbed 



when made to expend more than they anticipated, and 

 doubtless artists then claimed, as they do to-day, that they 

 may be so hampered as to destroy the artistic value of 

 their work if a rigorous adherence to the bargain is in- 

 sisted on. 



It is, of course, difficult to say upon which side the 

 blame most often rests. There are certainly artists in this 

 time and land who are unskillful and who " commit depre- 

 dations" upon the pockets of their clients without the excuse 

 of giving him a superior piece of work in return for its 

 extra cost. There are others who, while their artistic con- 

 science is highly developed, have little pecuniary con- 

 science ; they honestly desire to give their client work of 

 the highest quality, but they fail to remember that they 

 are likewise bound to respect his pocket, and, if needful, 

 to show him that he cannot have the best for the price he 

 is willing to pay. On the other hand, clients too often 

 insist on having the best, "regardless of cost," and after- 

 ward grumble about expense ; or, a price once settled upon, 

 they alter their demands without sufficiently considering 

 that this may mean unavoidable increase in price. The 

 task of a designer, whether his problem be to build a house 

 or to layout a park or garden, is a complicated one, involv- 

 ing outlays not only in final construction but in prepara- 

 tory study, superintendence, and the office work of sub- 

 ordinates, which are rarely taken into account by the 

 client, who thinks he has only to pay for stone and brick, 

 soil and trees, and their actual manipulation. Every 

 change from the plan first settled upon brings a new neces- 

 sity for such outlays, even if it does not make needful the 

 undoing of work already accomplished or the adoption of 

 a scheme intrinsically more costly. " He keeps abso- 

 lutely within his estimates if you do not change your 

 mind," we heard a client say of a well-known architect not 

 long ago, "but he is very extravagant if you change it." 

 The truth is, that her change of mind had meant the need 

 for renewed study on the architect's part, as well as more 

 expensive features in the house. "The only way to get a 

 house for the sum you have named," replied one other 

 hearers, " is to go abroad as soon as the contract is signed 

 and not come back until the house is finished." The cause 

 of many unfortunate disputes was certainly implied in this 

 wise advice. 



While there is reason, then, for insisting that some of 

 our artists should be more conscientious as to expenditures, 

 many clients also ought to reform their habits. There are 

 a few rules which should be heeded by every person 

 about to build or about to lay out a country place, and 

 among them are these : Take plenty of time to decide, in 

 consultation with the artist, just what it is you want. See 

 that he understands you clearly, leaving no question of 

 importance open for casual deciding a& the work pro- 

 gresses. Then think no more about it, except to watch, if 

 you will, lest, through misunderstanding or carelessness, 

 something not in the bond is being done. Or, if you must 

 change your mind, ascertain what the act will cost you 

 and decide, before it is too late, whether you will assume 

 the additional expense or not. Do not think that " a few 

 little alterations" will be of no consequence. Probably 

 those which seem little to you will not be little from the 

 artist's point of view or in a pecuniary sense. If, how- 

 ever, you cannot decide upon what you want, hand over 

 your house or your grounds to a reputable artist, name the 

 sum you are willing to spend, and let him manage as he 

 sees best — in which case you must not interfere at a later 

 stage. And, finally, if you refuse to follow either of these 

 modes of procedure, but give vague directions in the be- 

 ginning, or recklessly change your mind from time to time, 

 or else interfere when you have granted the artist a free 

 hand to do as he likes, do not grumble at the sum you 

 may eventually have to pay. 



Indeterminate orders and loose bargains never result 

 satisfactorily as regards either product or price, and it is 

 the client's own fault if they are made. If the orders are 

 clear, and the bargain hard and fast, and if then you are 



