483 
PARK AND CRMRTKRY 
Landscape Design. The sole test of Landscape De- 
sign is its effectiveness for the purpose at hand. This 
is a basic principle, the masonry foundation upon 
which we may build. It remains to consider the com- 
prehensiveness of the purpose and then the adaptabil- 
ity of the various schemes which may be suggested. 
Two general objects are worthy of striving for in 
Landscape Design. The one is to present nature to 
man; the other is to present man to nature. 
If there is a portion of land for Landscape develop- 
ment, and if the Beauty that is in the land is sufficient, 
then the problem is to furnish guides so that every 
one may behold. If, moreover, these guides are inani- 
mate and necessary devices, such as paths, drives, 
gateways, arche,;., and so forth, so that a man might 
have a guide and still be alone but for the spirit of 
nature which is set burning around him, then the de- 
sign is likely to be good. But if in some way the 
beautv of nature is not made available to man’s under- 
standing then the design is certainly bad. In this 
connection it is to be remembered that man’s moods 
are various, and a good design must appeal to a man 
who wishes to visit the landscape, even though the 
man is not always in the same mood ; or else the de- 
sign must be strong enough to bring the visitor to its 
own mood. 
To present man to nature, that is not so easy. To 
do this it must be possible to keep man out of the 
house more of the time than is usual in the Northern 
United States. Man may view nature from his resi- 
dence and several pictures may be obtainable from 
the various windows, but this is not enough ; this and 
nothing else would lead to a sort of picture gardening 
and would be far inferior to the real thing. Gardens 
must be used to be appreciated and the problem is, 
get man out of doors as much as possible and keep 
him comfortable and happy while he is there ; thus we 
bring man into nature or, as I have said, introduce 
man to nature. 
Much can probably be accomplished by building 
neat and comfortable open air houses or shelters ; and 
these, whether simple or elaborate, must be of a fine 
character of architecture so as to command respect 
increasing with acquaintance. Many people appre- 
ciate good architecture sooner than they do natural 
beauties, and the occasional introduction of the for- 
mer, where a fitting place is offered and the building 
seems to be useful and necessary, may cause many 
to consider more kindly the softer beauties of nature. 
Herein is a difficult problem, — how to introduce man 
to nature. Often it seems to be done something like 
this. Mr. Nature, allow me to introduce to you Mr. 
Man. Please be kind enough to show him through 
your home. He has a fair amount of curiosity and 
is reasonably active, so that you may keep him moving 
about as much as you like. If you should see that he 
is becoming tired, perhaps you will show him a place 
to rest; anything will do for a seat, — a log of wood 
or any other old thing that you don’t need. 
Mr. Man makes the rounds of the place and thinks 
it all may be very pretty to one who gets used to it, 
and there is very good exercise in the journey; but, 
to be honest, he is mighty glad to get back home into 
his own house. There he finds things just to his fancy, 
where he can be at rest and enjoy real comfort. That 
table at his side! It just suits his purpose, it is hand- 
somely carved, and he does not see how it can be im- 
proved to assist his purpose ! On the wall to the left 
hangs a fine portrait of his grandfather, painted by 
the noted Mr. — . After all, the most inter- 
esting thing in the world is human kind. 
Every care is taken in the building of a house to 
have the finest. To live in some of our really fine 
homes, surrounded hy things comfortable, convenient 
and beautiful, by companions happy and congenial and 
discreet, to live in such a place is in itself an educa- 
tion. Ah, I muse as I behold, is all this denied to out- 
door life? 
There are many days in all seasons of the year 
when it is beautiful to be out of doors, if one can 
really be made comfortable, and not be obliged to be 
on the move in order to enjoy the natural surround- 
ings. If one could be protected from the winds on 
certain days and from the storm on others, — and have 
no fear of becoming wet or uncomfortable, — and if 
at the same time the devices which protect him should 
be of a worthy kind and the best of that kind, then 
it would be possible to receive the same delightful 
feeling out of doors as in a well-built house ; but as 
long as it is supposed that in landscape work any 
old thing will do, if it is natural, we must expect peo- 
ple to prefer the house for the greater part of the time. 
Make things comfortable for man and he will prob- 
ably spend more time in the open air. Thus we 
would introduce man to nature and make real garden- 
ing more attractive than picture gardening. 
A garden is a mood, it is the mood of some man, 
and as many variations are possible as there are pos- 
sible moods in music. In fact, music offers a very 
good comparison. First, we have the note, then the 
scale, then the tune and then the symphony. In mak- 
ing a garden, someone makes a hit — strikes a note 
“do” — several copy the hit, and at times a whole sec- 
tion seems to be striking “do.” Yet tunes and even 
symphonies in garden design are possible. However, 
gardens are more individual than tunes, and the pur- 
pose of the Landscape specialist is not so much to 
play a first-class tune as to make the garden the pe- 
culiar property of the person for whom it is designed. 
The whims and moods of the owner are often in fact, 
and moreover in theory they should usually be a con- 
trolling feature in any good design. 
