Excerpt from Henderson's Picturesque Gardens and Ornamental Gardening Illustrated The great interest manifested in gardening pursuits for ages has invited the publication of an endless amount of litera ture on this and allied topics. This store of outdoor lore, both ancient and modem, is perhaps more voluminous than that of any other material subject. The theme is covered from every point, including fluent dissertations by the devotees of certain schools, in which are formulated the canons of strict propriety in garden embellishment, and a condemnation of other methods not in accord with the fancies or training of the authors; but we believe that broadened, traveled people appreciate the beauties of many styles of gardens, whether they possess the strength and breadth of the Natural, Landscape and Picturesque, or the fine execution and delicate finish of the formal Italian, French and Architectural. All of them, when in harmony with their situations, possess their own particular attractions. To our mind, there should be no set style followed in adorning gardens and lawns. Every house and its surroundings should invite its own plan, which gives the estate added charms of originality, variety and character. The dominant object of ornamental gardening is to enhance home surroundings, and this object is attractively accomplished by composing, into a pleasing picture on the lawn, trees, shrubs, flowering and decorative plants with accessories, - therefore the designer should shape his thought to some original ideal thoroughly befitting the situation; and regardless of fleeting fashion, taste should be used in arranging the living elements of the picture and unifying them with the objective, as an artist brings forth his work on the canvas with brush and colors. There are underlying principles to be followed in both cases to insure artistic 'results, but it is not our intention to enter into exhaustive precepts in this book, having'devoted most of the space to illustrations which show such a variety. Of garden scenes, with examples of various com binations of plants, shrubs, trees and garden-like adornments, that we trust some will create fruitful suggestions adaptable to the environments of many homes both pretentious and modest. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.