contrast to the vegetation. A principle like this is easily transplanted to this 

 country, for it is so easy to cross the Atlantic nowadays that the influence of for- 

 eign art can be seen at every turn. Our architecture has heretofore been a copy 

 of some European style ; our painters, sculptors, and musicians study abroad. But 

 as a nation we have strong individuality, and differences in requirements and in 

 local characteristics have modified the ideas on garden design which we have 

 imported from Europe. It is interesting to analyze how this assimilation of 

 ideas has taken place. 



An American traveling abroad is sure, after seeing the formal gardens of 

 Rome and of Northern Italy, to wish to reproduce them in some form in his own 

 country. He does not always remember that climatic conditions are not the 

 same, and that unless entirely different materials are used and different trees and 

 flowers planted the result will be a failure. American winters are too severe, at 

 least in our Northern States, to allow the free use of marbles ; delicate carving 

 and soft stones have either to be protected in winter or must be left out of the 

 design. Moreover, different flowers, trees, and hedges have to be used in attempt- 

 ing to produce effects similar to those in Italy, for it is impossible to grow here 

 many of the broad-leaved evergreens which give so much character to the villa 

 gardens of Rome. The lines and masses may be similar, the principles of design 

 may be the same, but the effect in detail is different, for different elements must 

 be used, or must needs be changed to meet new conditions. When Italian artists 

 came to France at the time of the French Renaissance they, in the same way, had 

 to adapt their work to the conditions of climate, — though it does not follow that 

 because the French and the American formal gardens are the development of the 

 Italian style in a northern climate, they are or can be similar. 



The magnificence and grandeur of the French parks are sure to interest all 

 students of the art of gardening, and several places in this country have been laid 

 out in imitation of the French style. But we have already seen that the gardens 

 of Le NStre belonged to a period of highly elaborate court life, and were inspired 

 by the fetes and ceremonies of the Grand Monarque. That style of life has 

 died out in France, and never existed in this country, so that any attempt to 

 imitate the gardens of Versailles or Saint Cloud would be due to a desire to copy, 

 rather than to any real social or artistic need for such a garden. Even did the 

 desire to copy exist, no one who appreciates and enjoys the charm of our Amer- 

 ican scenery should ever attempt to lay out his grounds like the park at Versailles 

 unless there were enough acres of natural scenery beyond to make one feel the 

 dominant note of the American landscape. 



