64 THE BOOK OF GARDEN FURNITURE 



exercising care and taste in the selection of object and 

 site, the sundial is capable of becoming stupid and 

 meaningless when carelessly employed. There is some- 

 thing almost ridiculous in the perky little cast-iron dial, 

 painted a vivid green, which adorns, or rather disfigures, 

 the exact centre of a microscopic grass-plot in a villa 

 garden of my acquaintance. It is so aggressively new 

 that one feels it is there under false pretences — a relic 

 of the dim and shadowy past, masquerading as the latest 

 production of a scientific age. Whatever be the design 

 chosen for the garden dial, and whatever be the material 

 in which such design is carried out, there must be a 

 semblance of antiquity, otherwise its greatest charm 

 is lost. For this reason, cast iron is entirely unsuitable 

 for the construction of the pedestal. Wood is fairly 

 satisfactory, though it is liable to decay unless frequently 

 painted or varnished, a proceeding which cannot on any 

 account be recommended. 



Although it is very important to secure a really artistic 

 design, the question of site demands even more attention. 

 There are numbers of gardens, charming enough in them- 

 selves, where the most beautiful sundial ever fashioned 

 has no possible chance of appearing anything but in- 

 congruous and out of place. Conversely, there are to 

 be found in not a few of our old country gardens, vacant 

 sites which are practically ideal in every way. In this 

 chapter we are considering a class of garden furniture, 

 which lays no claim to be other than purely ornamental — 

 pergolas, archways, and vases may all assist in the 

 decorative scheme, but they serve a useful purpose as 

 well. Therefore, if the garden, no matter what its 

 size, does not contain a spot where a sundial may be 

 fittingly placed, then under no consideration whatever 

 should the desire to possess so interesting an object lead 

 to its introduction. We have our watches and clocks to 

 register to fractions of a second, and there is no possible 



