FLORICULTURE 
Humphrey Repton was the first who 
took unto himself the title of landscape 
gardener and the first to lay down fixed 
principles for the art. His published 
works are still indispensable to the land- 
scape gardener. His career as a profes- 
sor began about 1788. The elegant, sen- 
sible style soon rapidly spread over con- 
tinental Europe and was introduced into 
America by Andrew Parmentier, who 
came here from Belgium about 1824. 
He was followed by Andrew Jackson 
Downing, whose “Landscape Gardening” 
and ‘‘Letters to the ‘Horticulturist,’ ”’ are 
well known to have greatly assisted the 
advancement of landscape art in America. 
But the one who carried the art to its 
highest point was Frederick Law Olm- 
sted. His writings are classics on out- 
door art, and his work in designing 
parks and other grounds were object les- 
sons which have paved the way for the 
wave of interest in landscape gardening 
and civic improvement, which is now 
becoming general throughout the coun- 
try. 
General Principles 
The naturalistic methods of gardening 
are undoubtedly the most interesting to 
the American people, and I think the for- 
mal arrangement should be confined to 
restricted areas, disconnected from the 
other parts of the ground. In connection 
with magnificent architecture and con- 
sidered as part of the architectural 
scheme, this kind of gardening is per- 
fectly fitting. 
The aim of the landscape gardener is 
the formation of pictures and the prin- 
ciples governing his works are the same, 
whether he is working on a large park 
or on the area of a city lot. The mate- 
rials are earth, rocks, woods and water. 
The buildings, roads and walks are arti- 
ficial features necessary for the comfort 
and convenience of man. 
The first step in the arrangement of 
any landscape is the making of a plan. 
This plan should give every detail of 
grading and planting arrangement It 
should be made to a scale large enough 
if possible to give the location of each 
individual plant. It should show the 
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location of buildings, roads, paths, drains 
and all existing and proposed features. 
This plan should be accompanied by 
written instructions and _ specifications, 
and it should be conscientiously followed 
as a guide in future operations to pre- 
vent incongruities and confusion. 
The laying out of the ground should 
be done in the following order: Locating 
and building the residence and other 
structures, grading, laying drains, mak- 
ing roads and paths, planting of trees 
and shrubs, and lastly, the finishing of 
the lawn. The location of the residence 
and the planting near it should be very 
carefully considered. Generally the 
house is finished and the grading done 
before the laying out of the grounds is 
thought of, whereas the proper way is 
to consider the location of the building 
in connection with the planning of the 
grounds. Planting about the base of a 
building helps to connect it with the 
lawn upon which it stands and softens 
the stiff, regular lines. This planting 
should consist of hardy material, which 
will be effective, even in winter. 
Porches and parts of the building 
ought to be planted with hardy vines for 
purposes of both privacy and comfort. 
The lawn should be as spacious as possi- 
ble to give extent to the place, and should 
have boundaries of closely planted trees 
and shrubs in irregular masses, the fore- 
ground of which may be planted here and 
there with masses of herbaceous and an- 
nual flowers carefully arranged so as not 
to cause a spotted effect. 
Outbuildings should be partially 
screened by mass plantings so as to show 
only those parts of them which will add 
to the beauty of the composition. Avoid 
the common fault of scattering plants all 
over the grounds without reason or 
thought. 
In the arrangement of the plantation 
be careful to study the natural growth of 
the plants such as height, form, rapid 
or slow growth, texture and color of the 
foliage and season of bloom. While most 
plants have green leaves there are great 
differences in the shades of green, which 
differences must be carefully considered 
