CHAPTER IV 



PLOTTING AND PLANNING 



Laying out grounds, as it is called, may be considered as a liberal art, in 

 some sort like poetry and painting, and its object, like that of all the liberal 

 arts, is or ought to be to move the affections under the control of good 

 sense. If this be so when we are merely putting together words or colors, 

 how much more ought the feeling to prevail when we are in the midst of 

 the realities of things. — Wordsworth 



What the main garden shall stand for and what space shall 

 be devoted to side issues will be the all-absorbing question 

 as soon as a site is chosen. Up to this time imagination will 

 have set no limit to the dazzling possibilities conjured up by 

 a brotherhood of young Aladdins. They will, however, be only 

 too glad to exchange the lamp of their imaginings for some 

 real proof of skill and strength. The first test given them 

 (and one upon which more depends than they realize) consists 

 in fixing the garden's boundaries according to precise and 

 carefully considered measurements. In deciding what these 

 lines shall inclose, it must not be forgotten that in these days 

 of intensive gardening a trained agricultural conscience will 

 not allow a scrap of the inclosure to go to waste. Far better, 

 therefore, for the student of modern methods to begin by 

 tilling too little land than too much. One needs only to read 

 agricultural bulletins to be convinced that what really counts 

 is the quality and the abundance of a yield in its relation to 

 a specific area, large or small. An expert, for instance, scores 

 not because he can harvest a certain amount of corn, but be- 

 cause he has discovered a way to make two ears of corn 



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