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 The Natural Style in Landscape Gardening 



and content must be presented in a logical, under- 

 standable way. 



Now sound prose writing depends absolutely on 

 two principles, videlicit, first, on unity of theme, 

 and, second, on paragraphic structure. It is now 

 our purpose to develop these two principles in their 

 application to the naturalistic form of landscape 

 gardening. 



The landscape motive may be defined as the cen- 

 tral subject matter of each composition. This defi- 

 nition should specifically include both form and 

 spirit, for the landscape motive should present a 

 tangible physical unit clearly expressive of the dom- 

 inating spirit of the whole work. 



This definition is illustrated in the comparisons 

 already made between the subject, text or topic in 

 literature, the theme or motive in music, and the 

 leading motive in landscape. The idea can be made 

 clearer, however, and further illustrated, by giving 

 a few examples of landscape motives. 



The oak-tree motive: On the low rolling hills 

 of the central Mississippi basin, perhaps most typi- 

 cally in Missouri, are miles and miles of scattered 



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