December  12,  1901.  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
539 
Here,  indeed,  is  the  finest  field  for  the  display  of  imagina¬ 
tion,  in  the  endless  combination  of  forms  of  novel  beauty, 
being  by  a  vast  majority  the  most  glorious  which  the  earth 
could  afford  ;  in  the  multiform  and  multicolour  of  the  flower 
and  the  tree,  grass,  rock,  and  water  we  recognise  the  direct 
and  energetic  efforts  of  Nature  at  physical  loveliness. 
It  is  said  there  are  properly  but  two  styles  of  landscape 
gardening — the  natural  and  the  artificial.  One  seeks  to 
recall  the  original  beauty  of  the  country  by  adapting  its 
means  to  the  surrounding  scenery ;  cultivating  trees  in 
tastes  to  gratify.  It  has  a  certain  relation  to  the  various 
styles  of  buildings.  There  are  the  stately  avenues  of  which 
there  are  so  many  in  the  country,  Italian  terraces,  and  a 
various  mixed  old  English  style,  which  has  some  relation 
to  the  domestic  Gothic  or  English  Elizabethan  architecture. 
Whatever  may  be  said  against  the  abuses  of  the  artificial 
landscape  gardening,  a  mixture  of  pure  art  in  a  garden  seene 
adds  to  it  a  great  beauty.  This  is  partly  pleasing  to  the  eye, 
by  a  show  of  order  and  design,  and  partly  moral.  A  terrace 
with  an  old  moss-covered  balustrade  calls  up  at  once  to 
harmony  with  the  hills  or  plains  of  the  neighbouring  land  ; 
detecting  and  bringing  into  practice  those  nice  relations  of 
size,  proportion,  and  colour  which,  hid  from  the  common 
observers,  are  revealed  or  apprehended  everywhere  to  the 
experienced  student  of  Nature.  The  result  of  the  natural 
style  of  garden ;ng  is  seen  rather  in  the  absence  of  all  defects 
and  incongruities — in  the  presence  of  a  healthy  harmony  and 
order — than  in  the  creation  of  any  special  wonders  or 
miracles. 
The  artificial  style  has  as  many  varieties  as  there  are 
the  eye  the  fair  forms  that  may  have  passed  there  in  other 
days.  The  slightest  exhibition  of  art  is  an  evidence  of  care 
and  human  interest.  The  original  beauty  of  a  landscape  is 
seldom  so  great  as  that  which  may  be  introduced.  Of 
course,  everything  depends  on  the  selection  of  a  spot  with 
capabilities.  A  man  who  is  about  to  build  himself  a  house, 
or  is  employed  by  another  to  find  an  eligible  site,  should  look 
well  about  before  fixing  upon  a  spot — a  work  well  begun  is 
half  the  battle. 
(To  be  concluded.) 
