The Art of Gardening 
work would not be worth while. Its only 
value would be historical, not artistic ; it 
would be prized only as the permanent rec- 
ord of a perishable fact. To make his re- 
sult worth while as art, he must put into it 
a portion of himself. 
If the landscape-gardener were indeed de- 
nied the chance to do this he could not be 
more than a skilful artisan. But he is not 
denied it. In fact, he cannot escape if he 
would from the necessity for self-expres- 
sion. It is not truer to say of him than of 
the painter or the sculptor that he copies 
Nature. Although they work merely with 
their eyes upon Nature, and he works in and 
with her, his aim is the same as theirs — 
to reunite her scattered excellences. The- 
oretically he could copy her in a very ex- 
act sense of the word ; but practically he 
can copy little more than her minor details 
and her exquisite finish of execution. Com- 
position of one sort or another is the chief 
thing in art, and the landscape-gardener’s 
compositions must be his own. Through 
them he must express his own ideals. If he 
is Nature’s pupil he is also her master. 
13 
