30 SUBURBAN GARDENS 
ifesting itself proves this evolutionary process 
to be in action, shows that we are making pro- 
gress. Having at last learned something 
about building, so that our houses are improv- 
ing, we are beginning to be ready to learn 
something about the finer art of gardening, as 
Bacon points out that man is wont to do. 
Already I have said that radical departures 
are necessary in order to arrive at the most 
that may be done with the suburban home. 
Until this fact is recognized and acted upon, 
the endless lawns of the suburbs will remain 
— fresh and green and much better than some 
less agreeable treatment might be, to be sure 
— yet tamely uninteresting. That they are 
uninteresting, when all is said and done, is 
most certainly demonstrated by the refresh- 
ment which even the most phlegmatic experi- 
ence when, of a sudden, a real garden comes 
into view in place of the few shrubs and green- 
sward so common. However unsuccessful 
such a garden may be from the artistic stand- 
point, it has interest, hence it promotes real 
enthusiasm. It is to such treatment therefore, 
rather than to the conventional scattered 
planting of a few trees and shrubs, that I am 
going to direct attention, and with it I am go- 
ing to deal; for the conventional planting is 
