5 THE GENERAL PLAN OR THEORY OF THE PLACE 59 
will study the building as a whole, grasp its design and meaning, 
and suggest improvements that will add to the forcefulness 
of the entire structure. A dabbler 
would add a chimney here, a win- 
dow there, and apply various daubs 
of paint to the building. Each of 
these features might be good in 
itself. The paints might be the 
best of ochre, ultramarine, or paris 
green, but they might have no rela- 
tion to the building as a whole and 
would be only ludicrous. These two 
examples illustrate the difference 
between landscape gardening and 
56. A garden corner. 
55. An “upland garden, with 
grass-grown steps, sundial, 
and edge of foxgloves. 
the scattering over the place 
of mere ornamental features. 
There should be one cen- 
tral and emphatic point in 
the picture. <A picture of a 
battle draws its interest from 
the action of a central fig- 
_ ure or group. The moment 
the incidental and lateral fig- 
ures are made as prominent 
as the central figures, the 
picture loses emphasis, life, 
and meaning. The borders 
of a place are of less importance than its center. Therefore 
Keep the center of the place open ; 
Frame and mass the sides; Avoid scattered effects. 
