ON AMERICAN GARDENING 



a real suitability to some special circum- 

 stances. If we inquire which style is gen- 

 erally best adapted to American conditions, 

 we are still away from the point, for adapta- 

 tion does not go by generalities, but has 

 a meaning only in view of concrete condi- 

 tions. Furthermore, all foreign styles, even 

 the well-reputed English style, must be 

 modified to suit American requirements, 

 or it is as much a failure as any other. 



Is there, then, an American style of 

 landscape gardening? or will there ever be 

 one? These questions cannot be answered 

 categorically and with great confidence. 

 If we have not yet developed a national 

 style in music, painting, literature or archi- 

 tecture, it is quite too much to expect that 

 greater progress should have been made in 

 landscape gardening. Some things have, 

 indeed, been done in a truly American way. 

 We have the park systems of Chicago and of 

 Hartford; we have many magnificent pri- 

 vate estates, like Biltmore and Faulkner 

 Farm; and we have had the Exposition, at 

 Buffalo. These are only typical exsunples, 

 showing the art of landscape architecture 

 in a fairly Americanized form. At least 

 we are no longer dependent on exotic plans, 



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