106 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OP PARIS. [Chap. VII. 



much better use of than leaving them to briars and weeds, though 

 even with these they are charming. The margin of the larger 

 late near these little rocks, and indeed in many other parts, 

 compares favourably with the more abrupt and stiff lines of the 

 Lac des Minimes. 



A restaurant near the Lac des Minimes well shows how such 

 conveniences may be introduced into public parks without render- 

 ing them objectionable. It commands good views of the park and 

 water from the groups of trees by which it is partially hidden. 

 It would be well if like care were always taken to veil such 

 structures. In this park are the City Nursery for herbaceous 

 plants, and the Fruit Garden of the City, descriptions of which 

 are given in another chapter. The first is an excellent establish- 

 ment for the supply of a large city. 



The system of planting the same subjects in the same pro- 

 portions, that now obtains in nearly all gardens public and private 

 throughout Europe, makes them nearly all alike in details ; and 

 this park, instead of offering an absolute change in details 

 from others, simply repeats the same things. Under this system, 

 public parks do not represent a tithe of the beauty and interest 

 of the vegetable kingdom of which they are capable, taking into 

 consideration their extent, their variety in soil and surface, and 

 the large sums spent upon them. Everywhere in them we see 

 vast surfaces almost totally neglected, or only garnished with a 

 few commonplace trees : everywhere evidence that no thought is 

 given to the production of noble and permanent features. Some- 

 times, indeed, one or two spots are embellished at great expense 

 during the summer months with tender plants, while the re- 

 mainder of the surface is usually wholly uncared for. This is like 

 decorating a man clad in fluttering rags with a costly button- 

 hole bouquet. But the radical fault, everywhere strikingly 

 apparent, is monotony in the materials used. A tree or a shrub 

 becomes popular, and is planted everywhere in about the same 

 proportion. Thus we invariably find similar types of vegetation 

 everywhere, while the capabilities of city parks as instructive 

 national gardens are quite undeveloped. 



The system best calculated to give us the noblest series of 

 public gardens the world has ever seen, is to treat them as a whole, 

 and to establish in each a distinct type of vegetation. For example. 



