108 



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



for each manager of a public garden, in what direction his efforts 

 should chiefly tend ; give each a distinct aim, and thereby free 

 him from puerile rivalry with his fellows in the matter of " bedding 

 plants." He could then take up a Family, Order, or Flora, and 

 develop its beauty and variety to the completest extent. In the 

 vast expanse of our public gardens, there is not one interesting 



and important 

 branch of arboricul- 

 ture or horticulture 

 which could not be 

 developed in a way 

 hitherto quite unex- 

 ampled. On our 

 botanic gardens al- 

 ready in existence — 

 of which many of 

 the older ones are 

 not large enough 

 for the proper 

 grouping and ar- 

 rangement of one 

 single family of trees 

 — the system would 

 have the best results. 

 It would relieve the 

 botanic gardens of 

 the necessity of 

 cramming every 

 available plant or 

 tree into a small space, and permit their managers to devote 

 most of their attention to the many tribes of plants which require 

 special and continual care or renewal. 



Generally our national gardens give no more idea of the beauty 

 of vegetation, than the fountain-basin does of the sea. No botanic 

 garden in existence gives any worthy expression of the vegetation 

 of even the cold and temperate climes of Europe alone ! What do 

 we see of the beauty and character of any one large family of trees 

 by planting them all at regular intervals over a plot, or in the 

 various ways they are at present arranged in botanic gardens ? 



Margin of Lake near Temple, with tvft of Giant A rundo. 



