228 OLD-FASHIONED GARDENING 



here; no one ever mentions it, and apparently it 

 yielded to the box, even as in England it yielded to 

 the yew, in spite of its very superior merits as topiary 

 material. Holly was used here, as there, but only in 

 the South, where also the wild orange or mock olive 

 furnished an additional evergreen, willing to stand 

 shearing. 



None of these things were "cut, lead or drawn," 

 into any but the simplest forms, however. Pyramids, 

 a succession of umbrella-like layers along up the trunl^ 

 of a tree, and hedges sheared to accurate lines were the 

 limits, probably, of the skill of the workers available 

 here, for one thing. But the variable climate which 

 we enjoy is, and was, against the success of topiary 

 art; for hands, arms, weapons and appendages gen- 

 erally — even entire heads — are likely to succumb to a 

 winter's caprice of frost and ice and sunshine. And 

 once a topiary man loses his head, he is about as use- 

 less as a real one under the same misfortune, for it is 

 almost as difficult for him to grow another. 



The maze or labyrinth found greater favor here, 

 and was regarded as a huge joke and clever, even as in 

 the old world. The Dutch were probably directly 

 responsible for its presence in England and here, but 

 this, too, is a plaything of very ancient lineage. Some 

 were planted thickly "and to a man's height," while 

 others, little toys, were set with the same herbs that 



