40 THE BOOK OF GARDEN FURNITURE 



climbers, clematis, passion-flowers, and roses of every hue, 

 is supremely beautiful. Of course, in a climate like ours, 

 such a structure would be thoroughly out of place for 

 nine months of the year, and would look cold and cheer- 

 less to a degree in winter time. But all Italian pergolas 

 are not so pretentious, and the smallest villas, or even the 

 gardens of the poor, generally have a rough framework 

 over which the vines ramble and cluster, and the family 

 sit and smoke when the day's work is done. As a rule, 

 even the smallest of these pergolas has supporting pillars 

 of rough stone ; but the material is cheap and easily 

 obtained, and the Italian is an adept at working it in the 

 rough and ready way which looks so effective. Conti- 

 nental gardeners also use the pergola to advantage, 

 especially when there is little attempt at elaborate 

 erections, which are seldom desirable except in warm 

 countries. 



In the majority of English gardens, quite rustic forms 

 will prove far the most satisfactory, for the good reason 

 that the style of gardening which is most admired 

 to-day, is that in which there is absolute freedom from 

 artificiality. The carpenter or stonemason should not 

 be allowed to obtrude his work more than absolutely 

 necessary, for in the garden we expect to see much of 

 nature and but little of the craftsman, who has plenty 

 of other places in which to display his skill. It must not 

 be thought, however, that I do not advocate those more 

 solidly built structures, which are of necessity the joint 

 work of a practised designer and a good builder — these 

 are often the best pergolas of all ; but the architect must 

 be a man who knows his business, combining a special 

 knowledge of the garden and its requirements with that 

 more directly pertaining to his profession. A flimsy 

 framework of thin poles roughly fixed together is, to my 

 mind, almost as bad as an over-massive structure ; solidity 

 and strength without clumsiness, being absolutely essential 



