34 SUBURBAN GARDENS 
ment. Every one of us will take sides here, 
one way or the other; this is the big personal 
equation that will influence all the garden’s 
plan within the simple lines representing its 
boundary. 
With equally careful planning it might seem 
at first that neither system would have an ad- 
vantage over the other, but there is a distinct 
advantage in practical accomplishment lying 
always with the symmetrical arrangement. 
Walks that follow straight lines leave no use- 
less corners and produce no wasted strips or 
crescents here and there. Every inch of space 
counts for its very fullest in the garden of 
mathematical precision. Moreover it is well 
to bear in mind continually the fact that what- 
ever the natural taste may be, whether it de- 
mands a measure of careless irregularity and 
repudiates positively the symmetry and order 
which are to another the highest form of 
beauty, or no, the limitations of suburban 
space and surroundings impose corresponding 
limitations on individual garden development. 
In the interest of general harmony and seem- 
liness, therefore, order of one sort must distin- 
guish even the irregular design. Wilderness 
treatment is as out of place in the suburbs as log 
cabin architecture; and though there may be 
