FLORICULTURE 
lawn covered with acanthus, supposed to 
have been a sort of moss and adorned 
with figures of animals cut in trees. This 
lawn was again surrounded by a walk 
enclosed with evergreens sheared into 
a variety of forms. Beyond this was a 
place for exercise ornamented in the mid- 
dle with box trees sheared as before into 
numberless different figures, together with 
a plantation of shrubs kept low by clip- 
ping. The whole was fenced in by a wall 
covered with box, rising in different 
ranges to the top. Another quarter of 
the house compassed a small space of 
ground, shaded by four plane trees with 
a fountain in the center, which, over- 
flowing a marble basin, watered the trees 
and the verdure beneath them. Opposite 
to another part of the house was a plan- 
tation of trees in the form of a hippo- 
drome, formed of box and plane trees al- 
ternately planted, and connected togeth- 
er with ivy. Behind these were placed 
bay trees and the ends of the hippo- 
drome, which were semi-circular, were 
formed of cypress. The internal walls 
were bordered with rose trees and were 
in a winding direction, which, however, 
terminated in a straight path, which 
again branched into a variety of others 
separated from one another by box- 
hedges. These were sheared into a vari- 
ety of shapes and letters, some express- 
ing the name of the master, others of 
the artificer, while here and there small 
obelisks were placed intermixed with 
fruit trees, sheared as already described. 
At the upper end of the garden was an 
alcove of white marble, shaded by vines 
and supported by marble pillars, from 
the seat of which recess issued several 
streams of water intended to appear as 
if pressed out by the weight of those that 
reposed upon it, which water was again 
received in a basin so contrived as to 
seem always full without overflowing. 
Corresponding to this was a fountain 
that threw water to a _ considerable 
height and which ran off as fast as it 
was thrown out. An elegant marble 
summer house, opening into a green in- 
closure and furnished with a fountain 
similar to the one last described, fronted 
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977 
the above. Throughout the walks were 
scattered marble seats, near to each of 
which was a little fountain and through- 
out the whole, small rills of water were 
artificially conducted to entertain the 
ear with their murmur as well as to 
water the garden. 
It will be seen later that the garden 
of Pliny had a striking resemblance to 
the French and Dutch style of gardening 
of the 16th and 17th centuries. After the 
fall of the Roman Empire little is known 
of the art of gardening up to the begin- 
ning of the 16th century when it was 
revived by the Medici family in Rome. 
These gardens were geometrical designs 
and served as models for other famous 
gardens which succeeded them until the 
change of taste in gardening in Eng- 
land about 1760. 
The so-called Dutch or Holland style 
differs but little from those already men- 
tioned. At the end of the 16th century 
the French began to copy the gardens of 
the Italians, and during the reign of 
Louis XIV, 1651-1715, Le Notre improved 
and settled the French style in his lay- 
ing out of grounds and gardens. His 
taste and style continued in full repute 
for upwards of a century. MHirchfeld, in 
his “Theorie der Gartenkunst,” Vol. 1, 
1779, observes that “if Le Notre had 
been born under any other monarch than 
Louis XIV, his taste would in all prob- 
ability never have spread nor his name 
been known to posterity. But that age 
in which a feeling for the fine arts had 
begun to awaken in men’s minds, together 
with the personal character of this mon- 
arch, was favorable to pomp and bDril- 
liancy. The nation and the court wished 
to be dazzled and enchanted by novelty 
and singularity; and though there cer- 
tainly was nothing in Le Notre’s man- 
ner that had not before been displayed in. 
France and Italy and with the exception 
of parterres, even by the Romans, yet 
the grand scale and sumptuous expense 
of the plans surpassed everything be- 
fore seen in France, and produced pre- 
cisely the desired end. His long clipped 
alleys, triumphal arches, richly decor- 
ated and highly wrought parterres, his 
