EARLY HISTORY 
‘‘Little low hedges, round like welts, with some pyramids, I like 
well; and in some places fair columns, upon frames of carpenters’ 
work.”—Bacon. 
Just how far back in the history of gardens and garden- 
ing the art of Topiary was first practised there is no 
means of telling, but we know that gardening was first 
practised as a source of food supply, and that pleasure 
gardening did not occupy a very prominent position 
among the arts and sciences until civilisation had made 
considerable advances. Architecture had progressed in 
a wonderful manner and reached a high state of perfec- 
tion long before horticulture assumed any great import- 
ance. [’o use Lord Bacon’s elegant words, ‘‘ when ages 
grow to civility and elegancy, men come to build stately, 
sooner than to garden finely, as if gardening were the 
greater perfection.” This being so, it does not seem so 
very unreasonable to presume that the ancient builders 
of stately edifices would not in designing the surround- 
ing gardens, plant trees and shrubs likely to mask, 
soften, or detract in any way from the architectural 
features created at so great an expenditure of time and 
money. “They would the rather be likely to plant the 
more formal trees near the mansion, keeping the more 
graceful at a distance. The love of the formal among 
the Greeks may be evidenced from the writings of 
Theocritus, the pastoral poet of Greece, who compares 
the beauty of Helen to that of a Cypress. Following 
up this idea, a reason for keeping evergreen and other 
6 
