562 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



or repeats another ; not in the way of balance or symmetry, but like 

 a broken echo of it." The absence of this principle is the cause of 

 the restlessness which disturbs so many garden scenes. " In land- 

 scape composition," he says, " the principle of balance is more or 

 less carried out in proportion to the wish of the artist to express 

 disciplined calmness. In bad composition, as in bad architecture, 

 it is formal — a tree on one side answering a tree on the other ; but 

 in good composition, as in graceful statues, it is always easy and 

 sometimes hardly traceable." It is advisable to note that this 

 dictum refers to landscape only, and not to symmetrical gardens. 



Space is found for these quotations to show that, from the teaching 

 of Ruskin, very valuable principles of art may be acquired which 

 can be applied to garden-design. Whether he knew little or much of 

 garden craft, his artistic instinct would have enabled him to solve 

 many problems in design which puzzle an expert landscape gardener. 



We desire by no means to ignore the necessity for a sound know- 

 ledge of horticulture as part of the equipment of a garden-designer; 

 but in order to conceive a series of beautiful garden scenes both 

 imagination and artistic skill are pre-eminently necessary. The 

 Japanese appreciate this point very strongly, and it is commonly 

 understood that their most important garden works are composed as 

 pictures by accomplished painters as a preliminary to handing the 

 design to a gardener for execution. 



It cannot be denied that imagination directed from different 

 angles of thought and the expression of unbiassed views on design 

 have broadened the basis of the art and increased greatly its variety 

 and interest. Landscape gardeners will do well to profit by the 

 suggestions which come to them from divergent points of view. They 

 should study the desire of the artist for a garden which satisfies the 

 instinct for picturesque effect. They should recognize the anxiety 

 of the architect for a sense of order and a feeling of unity between the 

 house and the garden. They will naturally share the passion of the 

 horticulturist for variety and an abundance of interesting and beauti- 

 ful plants, and they may learn, moreover, to tolerate the restrictive 

 common sense of the client whose privilege it is to provide the where- 

 withal, and will sympathize with his solicitude for the preservation 

 of as many existing features as possible. The capable landscape 

 gardener will skilfully combine and give a well-balanced value to 

 each of these expressions of opinion, coming as they do from masters 

 in their own department. 



It is the ideal of an architect to adjust the plan of a house in such 

 a way that no other structure could conceivably appear to be more 

 appropriate to the situation. He desires to fit the materials and 

 design to the purpose of the building, and to make them harmonize 

 with the site and surroundings. The landscape gardener professes 

 similar ideals, and will associate himself with this striving after harmony 

 He also will try to plan his garden in such a way that no other treatment 

 could be in truer sympathy with the house and more appropriate to 



