248 THE FLOWER-GARDEN, [chap. viii. 
amusement* but also actually of scientific 
knowledge^ without any appearance of formal 
arrangement. 
When the flower-garden is to be a geo¬ 
metrical one; the best way of designing it is 
to draw a figure on paper consisting of an¬ 
gular; circular; or serpentine forms; to repre¬ 
sent beds; and arranging them so as to form 
a whole. This may appear easy at first; but 
to do it well; requires a great deal of both 
taste and ingenuity; as each form should 
not only harmonize well with the others, but 
be handsome in itself. Where the space to 
be laid out is small, the figure may be more 
complex, and the separate beds more gro¬ 
tesque in their shapes, than where the gar¬ 
den is large: but where a large space is de¬ 
voted to flowers, only simply formed beds 
should be adopted. The reason for this is, 
that where the beds are of bizarre shapes, 
they require to be seen at one coup-tfceil to 
have a good effect; whereas simple and uni¬ 
form shapes may be seen either together or 
alone, without producing any disagreeable 
impression on the mind. Thus, in large 
flower-gardens, a succession of circles or 
