4 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
try, a grove of trees which would require many 
years to grow, a rocky ledge, a steep bluff or a ra- 
vine, or it may lack valuable features which could 
be secured by the selection of another piece of 
ground. When the site is finally selected a thor- 
ough study should be made of its characteristic 
features and of all the surroundings, and after such 
study the landscape gardener should have as clear a 
conception of the effect he wishes to produce, of its 
appearance when the first planting shall have been 
done, when one, two, three, ten years have elapsed, 
as a painter has when he begins work on a canvas. 
Not only that, but he should have in his mind the 
various effects of spring, summer, fall and winter. 
Having made his design and perhaps sketched 
it on paper (“perhaps,” because a sketch is not al- 
ways necessary, and there are cases in which the 
best result will be produced by working directly on 
the ground), he proceeds to execute it just as his 
brother artist proceeds to paint a picture, but in- 
stead of putting a background on canvas he shapes 
the actual ground, mixing with it compounds of ni- 
trogen, potash, phosphorus, etc., which, dissolved 
in the rain by the aid of the warmth and light of 
the sun, will afterwards produce the desired colors. 
The landscape gardener, however, does not select 
his colors directly. He has ten thousand servants 
to help him. If he wishes a dark green carried up 
from a given place on the ground he chooses a ma- 
ple, or if the green is to continue through the win- 
ter he chooses a pine as his servant to gather the 
materials already found or placed in the ground. If 
he wishes a red in winter he chooses a dogwood, 
which will put this color in its bark, or if he wishes 
a red in summer he chooses a rose. To be sure the 
servant must breathe the surrounding air while doing 
the work required. By choosing the right number and 
kind of such helpers a great mass of color may be 
carried high into the air, or spread out on the 
ground like a carpet. The colors may be varied 
from time to time, or bits of one color may be scat- 
tered upon another. Choosing the right servants 
is not always an easy task, but each one performs 
with marvelous skill the work he or she is able to 
do. If supplied with proper materials the details 
will be wrought out to perfection by these servants. 
There is no impressionistic work. Whether the liv- 
ing picture, as a whole, will be satisfactory or not 
will, however, depend upon the choice made by the 
landscape gardener, provided his supervision is con- 
tinued for a long enough time. The continued su- 
pervision is required because it takes time — in some 
cases years — for the servants mentioned, the various 
trees, shrubs, vines and herbaceous plants to do 
their part in making the picture. More are needed 
at the commencement than are needed later. They 
are not large, or strong when first assigned their 
places. Some may become sick or they may crowd 
their neighbors. The owner of a place or his man 
in charge, or the superintendent of a park, may 
have failed to grasp the features of a design, and so 
have made, changes detrimental to the final result. 
Few of the members of the profession, to say noth- 
ing of the clients, have appreciated the importance 
of an oversight extending through a series of years. 
The architect’s work is finished with the completion 
of a building; the painter’s when he puts his last 
touches on a canvas, but what a landscape gardener 
must have in mind is not a single picture, but a se- 
ries of pictures having more or less resemblance to 
each other, changing more rapidly with the first 
than with the later growth, and needing from time 
to time the inspection and criticism of a trained 
eye. This inspection may be made by visiting a 
place once a year, once a month, or even more fre- 
quently, as may be agreed on with the client, but 
it should not be omitted. 
1’erhaps no work of an artistic character requires 
a broader knowledge than that of landscape gar- 
dening. It calls for some acquaintance with engi- 
neering, architecture, principles of designing, horti- 
culture, botany, the adaptability of different plants 
to various climates and soils, their appearance, 
their rate of growth, their length of life and the so- 
cial habits of the people to whom they will give 
pleasure. Of course his knowledge of engineering 
or architecture will not be as extensive as that of 
men engaged in those professions, but it will be 
such as will enable him to bring into a harmonious 
whole the bridges, buildings, etc., and landscape. 
What compensation will a landscape gardener 
receive for his work? In the first place he will en- 
joy the beauty of nature far more than most men. 
He will also get much pleasure from his work. He 
will have a chance to get the pure, clear air of the 
country, to take walks through the woods and over 
fields. These are important considerations, but he 
must also receive money and have a basis for his 
charges. It takes as much natural ability and as 
much time spent in study to become proficient in 
his profession as it does to become a good lawyer, 
a good physician, a good engineer or a good archi- 
tect, and his pay should equal theirs. Moreover, 
he must travel and see what others have done in 
other cities and countries, and he should give spe- 
cial attention to what nature has done. This re- 
quires both time and money. The percentage 
charge made by architects is not applicable to land- 
scape work. A fee determined by an estimate of 
the time required in making a design is usually 
most satisfactory, or an agreement may be made to 
charge a certain amount by the day, the month or 
