270 
NATURE FOR ITS OWN SAKE 
Nature’¢ 
sacrifices. 
Trec- 
contrasts. 
the parts together, blending them, toning them, 
binding them into a universal whole. Unity is, 
indeed, the key-note of all landscape ; and it is 
the sweeping mass of this foliage, carpeting the 
hills and running over the meadows down to 
the scarlet reflection at the water’s edge, that 
reveals and emphasizes the large harmony of 
the design. 
It is the mass and body of trees, too, that 
blend into unison the odd groupings wherein 
form, color, and texture are often recklessly 
sacrificed. Nature can and does throw away 
many effects that humanity would eagerly 
grasp. It rolls a whole mountain-side into one 
tone of green or yellow with scarcely a break, 
it ranks together acres of dark pines without a 
perceptible spot of white or yellow, it rears 
whole groves of white-trunked birches without 
a dark tree among them for relief or contrast. 
The landscape-gardener advises his client not to 
hang a weeping willow over a pool of water, but 
nature does it with impunity ; the landscape- 
gardener advises contrasts of colors—yellow or 
light green against bottle-green ; contrasts of 
texture—the fluffy leaf against the needle-point ; 
contrasts of form—the short, stout tree against 
the tall, thin one; but nature seems to have 
