Mower County transcript., 1890-07-16
AN EXQUISITE oARD DEN.
How Tho Japanese Make = Perfect Lit
l55s6 tie Epitomo Of Nature. r.


How Tho Japanese Mako : Perfect Lit
tie Epitomo Of Nature. r5
The following Is from John La Farge's
"Letter from Japan in the Century:
"You have heard Of the little gardens,
and OF their exquisite details, in which
the Japanese make little epitome of
nature, arranged as II for one Of his
microscopic jewels of metals, ivory or
lacquer. -
"Here In our own garden there would
seem no call for an artificial nature.
The mountain slope on which we live
must always have been beautiful of
itself; but for all that our garden-that
IS 10 say, the place about our landlords
mousse and our own-has been treated
with extreme care. Our inclosure is
framed towards the great temple groves,
and the great mountains behind them,
| by high wall of rock, over which, at q
corner edge with moss, rolls torrent,
making waterfall that breaks three
times The pool below, edged with iris
that grow in'the garden sand, is crossed
by a bridge of three big fat stones,
and empties secretly away. On each
| side OF the fall, planted in the rock
wall, stands thick.set paulownia, with
great steady leaves, and bending to-
wards 1t willow, whose branches
drop far below itself and swing perpet-
ually in the draught OF the waterfall.
Bunches of pink azalea grow in the hol-
lows OF the rocks, and their reflections
redden the eddies of the pool. Steps
which seem natural lead up the wall
OF rock; old pines grow against it, and
our feet pass through their uppe:most
branches. On the top is planted mon
umental stone, and from there a little
path runs along, leading nowhere now
adays, as far as can make out am
right in calling this mass of rock. which
is spur of the mountains slope, q
wall, for look down from its top to
the next Enclosure far below. now over
grown and wild. What is natural and
what was made by man has become SO
blended together, or has always been
so, that can choose to look at it as
my mood may be, and feel the repose of
nature, or enjoy the disposing choice of
art.
''Where the little bridge crosses over,
and where mossy rocks dip down little
to allow passage, edged by maple
and pine, look over across the hid.
den road to deserted yasAli, with one
blasted tree, all overgrown with green
and melting into distances of trees,
which, tier behind tier, reach to little
conical hill, that is divided and sub
divided by sheets of mist at every
change of heat and damp, so that feel
half as if knew its forms perfectly
half as if could never get them all BY
heart.
I'm the sand of our little garden are
set out clumps of flowers, chrysanthe-
mum mostly, and occasionally iris and
| azalea; and the two houses make its
other two sides. The priests house, an
old one, with large thatched roof pro-
jecting in front and supported there by
posts covered with creeper;, is nearer
the water. see the littlo priest with
his young neophyte curled on the ma IS
| in the big front room whose whole face
is open; while in break. or wing, is
the opening to the practical housekeep-
er side Of the dwelling. s
''Our own house, which faces south
like the priests, completes the square,
as said. It is edged on the outside by
small plantation of trees with no char
! acter, that stretch away to the back
road and to wall terracing higher
ground behind. There wide space
overgrown with bushes and herbage,
that cover former care and beauty,
spreads out indefinitely toward conical
hills hot in the sun. behind which rises
the great volcanic slope of Nio.ho. A
little temple shrine, red, white and
gold, stands in this heat Of sunlight
and makes cooler yet the violets and
tender greens of the great slopes. This
is to the north. When l look toward
the west see broad spaces broken up
| by trees, and the corner of Iyeyasu's
temple wall half hidden by the gigantic
| cedars, and as write, late in the after
noon, the blue peak of Nan-tai-san
rounded off like a globe by the yellow
| mist.
1.-THE garden, embosomed in this
vastness OF nature, feels small, as
though it were meant to BE- so. Every
part is on small scale, and needs few
hands to keep things in order. We
have a little fountain in the middle of
the garden, that gives the water for our
bath, and sends noisy stream rolling
through the wooden trough of the wash
room. The fountain is made by a
bucket placed upon two big stones, set
in basin, along whose edge grow the
iris, still in bloom. A hidden pipe fills
the bucket, and long, green bamboo
makes conduit for the water through
tile wooden side of our house. With
another bamboo we tap the water for
our ba tn"
A Nation of Coffee Drinkers.
The United States is, without a doubt,
. nation of coffee-drinkers. The i'm.
| ports from South America amount to over
525, 900, 900 pounds annually, of which
sixty-nine per cent come from Brazil
The second largest shipper to this mar