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is the formation of a judgment upon the capahilities and the limita- 

 tions of that site, with reference to the artistic purpose. It is obvi- 

 ously impossible, for instance, to produce in the vicinity of Brooklyn 

 such scenery as will affect the mind as it is affected by the Alps or 

 the Sierras, on the one hand, or by the luxuriant vegetation of a 

 tropical swamp on the other. 



Moreover, there are certain kinds of scenery which experience 

 shows to be most satisfactory within a town park, which require an 

 extensive aggregation of their elements. It will be readily seen, 

 for instance, that if all the wood, water and turf, within a certain 

 area of ground, were distributed in patches, strips and pools, 

 however extensive as a whole, and however varied in detail 

 it might seem to those- who should thoroughly explore all its 

 parts, there would be no part which would not seem confined, 

 there could be no large open single scene, and no such impression 

 or effect on the mind would be produced as there would be, if all 

 the water were collected in one lake, all the trees in one grove, all 

 the strips of grass in one broad meadow. Such aggregations, and 

 consequently the degree of the impression intended to be produced 

 by them, must be limited by consideration for two other purposes : 

 the purpose of variety of interest, and the purpose to make all the 

 scenery available to the satisfaction of the public by ways of com- 

 munication. Other limitations upon the artistic purpose, again, are 

 imposed by conditions of soil and exposure, by rocks and springs. 

 How far each of these can be overcome, as by blasting, draining, 

 grading, screening, manuring and other processes, must be in every 

 case a special study, and the artistic purposes of the plan must be 

 affected in every part and particular by the conclusions arrived at. 



In the case before us, it is obvious that we should attempt nothing 

 which is incompatible with, or inappropriate to, comparatively slight 

 variations of surface, and a climate of considerable rigor. On the 

 other hand, there are no protruding ledges of rock, no swamps difficult 

 of drainage, and there is no especial bleakness, or danger to trees 

 from violent winds, to be apprehended. It is under similar condi- 

 tions to these that we find in nature that class of scenery, already 

 referred to, as the original and typical scenery of parks or hunting 

 grounds, and which is termed pastoral. It consists of combinations 

 of trees, standing singly or in groups, and casting their shadows over 

 broad stretches of turf, or repeating their beauty by reflection upon 

 the calm surface of pools, and the predominant associations are in 



