DESIGN IN THE SUBURBAN GARDEN. 



71 



for "high- walled gardens, green and old," hedges thick and trim, and well- 

 designed trellis as bounding lines. 



The usefulness and need of a garden are still the same, though 

 perhaps at first sight not so apparent, and the reasons are more 

 psychological than materialistic. Different kinds of fruit and vegetables 

 can probably be bought from the greengrocer as cheaply as they can be 

 produced in most private gardens, certainly near London, but the demand 

 for them is greater than ever. Jam and pickle factories have done away 

 with the absolute necessity for home growing, but I think every one will 

 agree that home-made jams are far superior. I am sure that few people 

 realise how much can be done, and how much pleasure obtained from even 

 a limited number of well-cared-for fruit trees, and what is more beautiful 

 than an Apple or Pear orchard either in early summer or autumn ? Then, 

 too, there are many trees, such as Mulberry, Quince, Medlar, Cherry, Plum, 

 Filbert, which are full of delight to the eye and useful as well, and which, 

 planted with discernment, will give pleasure to generations. 



Although sociology hardly comes within the scope of this paper, and 

 without going quite as far as Voltaire's " Candide " and saying "Let us 

 cultivate our garden, for that comprises the whole duty of man," I am cer- 

 tain that if nowadays gardening, not merely flower gardening, but honest 

 fruit and vegetable growing with the accompanying culinary know- 

 ledge, were better understood and followed, as our forefathers followed it, 

 the modern cry of broken nerves and jaded energies would not be so 

 much in evidence, either for men or women, and the everlasting cry for 

 amusement and excitement might somewhat abate. There is no recreation 

 more healthful than gardening, and health is the ground-plan of all that 

 is worth having in life. 



There is one other point I must touch upon in connection with the 

 necessity of the garden, and that is its educational influence, especially 

 upon children. In these days, when so many time-honoured fallacies 

 have had to succumb to modern science, there is no better way of teaching 

 scientific truths and imparting a true system of observation of nature 

 than by means of the well-ordered garden. 



Of the joy of the " pleasure garden " there can be no doubt. Bowling- 

 greens have given place to tennis and croquet lawns, but that is only in 

 the course of the natural evolution of physical recreation, which has 

 become more imperative and vigorous. The love and desire for sweet - 

 smelling beautiful flowers and dry walks — indeed all the pleasing fancies 

 of the old gardens — are as strong as ever, and surely we moderns of the 

 twentieth century, with all our increased knowledge and vaunted civilisa- 

 tion, should be able to appreciate the pleasure part of the garden, and 

 derive moral and physical good from it as much as our ancestors. With- 

 out wearying you further, then, it is my belief that after making allowance 

 for the gradual evolution of certain old forms, such as bowling-greens, to 

 modern ones, such as tennis lawns, speaking broadly, all the old essentials 

 are still in existence. If some are in modified forms, and if some have 

 dropped out, others have made their appearance, and therefore the same 

 factors, or their modified or more highly specialised descendants, still 

 govern garden design. The house and garden still require each other to 

 make the home one perfect whole. Each must fit in with the other, and 



