LAYING-OUT OF THE BOTANIC-GARDEN. 241 



lessened by the color of the earth, and those ranks 

 and files of painted tallies bearing the names, in win- 

 ter more conspicuous than the plants themselves. "When 

 these collections are arranged in lines, with alleys of 

 bare earth between them, the result is extreme bald- 

 ness; and the plants seldom thrive, as the bare and 

 generally weedless soil, reflecting the glare of summer 

 light and heat upon them, affords a home as unlike 

 the natural habitats of most as possible. "When the 

 lines are waved, with grass alleys intervening, the gen- 

 eral effect is ameliorated, and in winter the ground 

 has partially the semblance of a lawn. When the 

 natural system of arrangement is adopted, the plants 

 may be made to fall into groups ; but few of the ex- 

 amples of this kind of planting, which have come 

 under our observation, are materially better than the 

 others. They are usually planted in clumps in grass, 

 but the figures are seldom good ; the intervening spaces 

 of grass are too narrow ; and the plants too small to 

 produce any of that lawn-like effect which we suppose 

 is aimed at. "We should deem it more advisable to 

 arrange such collections in the form of parterres, com- 

 posed of beds suited for .the various tribes and genera, 

 and intersected with graveled walks — a method which 

 would economize the ground occupied, and facilitate 

 inspection. 



Note. — It is little creditable to American taste and 

 enterprise, that although two botanic gardens have 

 been, many years ago, liberally endowed — in the city 

 of New York, and at Cambridge, Massachusetts, and 

 possibly in other cities of the United States — they 

 died out for want of care, and a failure to excite a 

 sufficient interest in those who should have been 

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