IMPROVEMENT OF GARDEN FLOWERS 101 



the struggle and the need for adaptation are much 

 lessened, the result of which is that astonishing changes 

 can be worked upon many plants since they are re- 

 lieved from the continuous even pressure of necessity. 

 But if these plants are transformed so that they lose 

 the character stamped upon them by their adaptation 

 to natural circumstances, then they lose also the most 

 significant part of their beauty, and look like manu- 

 factured rather than living things. There are some 

 people, of course, who like a flower to look manufac- 

 tured, and in its artificiality see a proof of their own 

 power over nature. This desire to make a thing look 

 different from what it is, just for the sake of showing 

 the maker's skill, is the cause of much bad art of all 

 kinds. It is the cause of nearly all bad art in the 

 garden. 



