REVIVAL OF THE ART 33 
that they are in harmony with formal surroundings, or 
disposed where they form a distinct item of horticultural 
interest and do not in any way mar the more natural 
_ beauties of adjacent subjects. 
Precisely why there has been a revival of this old 
art [am not prepared to say. It must suffice that there 
is such a revival, and a very distinct one, as any one 
who visits gardens and exhibitions and _ nurseries 
frequently will readily discover. At the leading 
London and provincial exhibitions two old established 
firms of nurserymen have frequently and extensively 
exhibited examples of Topiary; these are Messrs 
Wm. Cutbush & Son, Highgate, N., and Messrs J. 
Cheal & Sons, Crawley, Sussex; and it may be 
safely asserted that if there were no taste or demand 
for clipped trees the respective proprietors would 
not incur the necessarily heavy expense of displaying 
this particular line of goods. 
In the revival of Topiary in England no single person 
has taken a deeper interest than Mr Herbert J. Cutbush, 
and though his interest is confessedly a business one 
it is none the less worthy of mention. For many years 
Mr H. J. Cutbush has frequently visited Holland and 
he has travelled through and through the little country 
until he knows it, horticulturally, far better than even 
many eminent Dutch nurserymen do. He discovered 
that some of the best trained and best furnished 
specimens of sculptured yew and box were to be found 
in the farmhouse gardens, in small, almost unknown 
villages, far from the usual routes of tourists and 
business-men, and this led to still further explorations. 
During the first years of the revival Mr H. J. Cutbush 
crossed over to Holland nearly every week end making 
himself acquainted with the farmers, and with the few 
growers who regularly supplied the Dutch nursery 
_ trade. He got to know where examples were being 
C 
