2 INTRODUCTION 
according to the degree of formality found in its design 
and furnishing. The inevitable reaction followed next, 
and had its beginning in a Crusade which found able 
supporters in those two brilliant essayists and satirists, 
Addison and Pope. The old order changed, and 
considering its age, it changed with a rapidity for which 
there seems to be no parallel in horticulture. No doubt 
many trees were permitted to grow naturally after years 
of close cropping and carving, but doubtless also many 
thousands were uprooted and destroyed by the landscape 
gardeners who were practising—notably Bridgeman and 
Kent—when the decline of Topiary set in. And not 
only were clipped trees destroyed, but many a splendid 
close trimmed hedge of box and yew was swept 
away, leaving the garden unsheltered and unsecluded. 
Extremes met, as was but natural, when once the tide 
of fashion turned, and it has been left for the present 
times to properly adjust the balance between extreme 
formality on the one hand and too close a copy of nature 
on the other. 
We can appreciate the shelter and beauty of a well 
trimmed hedge in the garden, and, in its proper place, we 
find no fault with a straight terrace walk. Still further, 
we are collecting old sundials or fashioning new ones on 
old models, and in some of the best gardens of the day 
the garden seats have a comfortable old-time appearance. 
The principle of associating like with like is gaining 
ground, and in numerous fine establishments the interest 
of the place is wonderfully increased and extended by 
gardens devoted to certain subjects. We have Rose 
Gardens, Rhododendron Gardens, Bamboo Gardens, 
Michaelmas Daisy Gardens, etc., and lastly, we have 
Topiary Gardens. These latter do not now as hereto- 
fore overpower everything else; they are simply part 
of a whole scheme for providing a continuation of 
pleasure, beauty and interest; they serve as a reminder 
