CHAPTER IV 
PLOTTING AND PLANNING 
Laying out grounds, as it is called, may be considered as a liberal art, in 
some sort like poetry and painting, and its object, like that of all the liberal 
arts, is or ought to be to move the affections under the control of good 
sense. If this be so when we are merely putting together words or colors, 
how much more ought the feeling to prevail when we are in the midst of 
the realities of things. — WoRDStvoRTH 
What the main garden shall stand for and what space shall 
be devoted to side issues will be the all-absorbing question 
as soon as a site is chosen. Up to this time imagination will 
have set no limit to the dazzling possibilities conjured up by 
a brotherhood of young Aladdins. They will, however, be only 
too glad to exchange the lamp of their imaginings for some 
real proof of skill and strength. The first test given them 
(and one upon which more depends than they realize) consists 
in fixing the garden’s boundaries according to precise and 
carefully considered measurements. In deciding what these 
lines shall inclose, it must not be forgotten that in these days 
of intensive gardening a trained agricultural conscience will 
not allow a scrap of the inclosure to go to waste. Far better, 
therefore, for the student of modern methods to begin by 
tilling too little land than too much. One needs only to read 
agricultural bulletins to be convinced that what really counts 
is the quality and the abundance of a yield in its relation to 
a specific area, large or small. An expert, for instance, scores 
not because he can harvest a certain amount of corn, but be- 
cause he has discovered a way to make two ears of corn 
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