The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-07-05

and that Of Ginkakuji In the suburbs OF
that city, although none OF them COM
pared In simplicity OF design and pres
| ervstion with the Arsenal Garden at
Tokyo. in which. probably. the gardening
art OF China can now be studied better
than in China Itself.
The Arsenal Garden occupies. perhaps,
twenty acres Of ground although 1t Is
so skilfully planted that It's area may
not be ten acres or II may be fifty; OF
the shape Of the piece OF ground IL covers
the visitor can form no idea whatever.
In reality II is parelelogram. rather
longer than broad. The garden is en-
tered through a small and rather shabby
outer garden of the prevailing japanese
fashion, with pond OF dirty water
| surrounded with It's irregular semi-rustic
stone coping and filled with plethoric
parti-colored gold fish, with the box and
holly plants cut into fantastic shapes, the
masses OF closely clipped azaleas and
enkiahthus. the piles OF moss-covered
rocks as full OF associations 10 the Jap
anese mind as they are meaningless TO
ours with the artfcially moulded sur
face of the ground. the contorted pine
tree. the unhappy looking apricots, and
the lesfcss cherry trees This dreari-
ness and unnatural monotony serve,
however. TO intensity the pleasure which
the visitor feels as soon as he passes
the simple gateway in the high masonry
wall which surrounds the inner encios-
ure: then ne finds himself in broad
walk paved in the middle for a width OF
FIVE or six feet, with fiat, irregularly
shaped stones raised a few inches above
the surface the whole being constructed
in imitation Of that portion Of the To-
kairo. the great seacoast highway OF
Japan, which crosses the pass In the
Hakone Mountains.
This path winds gracefully through a
grove Of live oaks, camphOr trees,
camellias. and hollies, and in the hottest
day Of summer affords retreat as cool
as grotto. on either side the ground
rises and falls I'm natural undulatlOns.
| and is covered under the trees with
thick carpet OF evergreen plants. aucu-
| has. aralas and many ferns; ascending
/ and descending as IL crosses the undula-
| tiOns Of the surface IL reaches the
shores Of lake at a point whore the
| broadcast and most perfect view OF the
garden Is obtained. Here the lake,
which occupies perhaps half the area,
can be seen in all the simplicity OF its
/ design. surrounded by what appear to
| be high hills clothed to their summit
with an unbroken mass of evergreen
! foliage. through which here and there
| the tall spire of a great mr. tree stands
! out boldly against the sky. The walk
now leaves the border Of the lake and
! crossing a small lawn, passes by tea
| house and plungng into the woods
rises and falls sometimes steeply, at
others gradually, as II leads the Nlsltos
around the borders OF the garden; now
Il comes to a point from which "A vista
has been cut through the trees for a
view across the lake; now IL passes "A
miniature reproduction Of the temple
| Of Kiyomizu at KyOto. and then by a
| shrine which commentaries the glory
Of two Chinese brothers, famous because
! they preferred death 10 disloyalty; then
| across an arching stone bridge 10 an
octagon shrine. so formed IN aliusloh 10
the eight diagrams OF the Chinese system
Of divination; and then over rushing
torrent which falls with high cataract
into the lake. and by other lawns
/ finally reaches the point where the
shore OF the lake was first approached.
| The wonders Of this walk are It's nlys-
| terry and quiet. for while II is perhaps
not more than half mile long, it APP
pears. so varied is 1t In interest. TO eN-
| tend for miles and i'm the MIDST OF u
! great CITY IL seems 10 climb the HIS ana
! 10 cross the rayines OF a primeval forest
The garden occupies what was once
! probably a perfectly level piece Oh
| ground. The soil taken from the ste
| of the lake was heaped up around the
borders 10 protect them ana 10 diversity
the surface and then the water when
I fills the lake was introduced az the
highest point Of the artificial mis- ana
allowed 10 fan naturally i'm series or
cascades; the natural grouping Of few
varieties Of harmonious trees did the
rest, the whole producing a result so
quiet and perfect that n visitor stand
ing on the shore OF the lake might well
imagine himself a thousand miles from
any human habtation. The little tea
house where guests are refreshed, the
shrines and temples, the bridges and
the other structures which make the
walk through the garden interesting,
are all hidden and do not intrude upon
the harmony Of the scene. And hidden,
toOare the special collections of plants
which add to the attractions Of the gar
den without disfguring it as a work Of
art. Al one point the principal walk
passes through little grove Of apricot
trees dear 10 the hearts Of all japanese
for the flowers which cover the naked
branches In February tell them of the
coming Of spring: In another part Of the
garden there is a collection OF cherry
trees which produce their pink and white
flowers after those OF the apricots have
fallen al one point where the trees re-
cede from the shores of the lake, leaV-
ing a gTass-covered recess. are nu nber
OF WiStarld vines, trdlOen over 10"
frames in the japanese fashion; and in
the middle Of another little lawn Is an
iris garden, with irregularly shaped
sunken beds separated, like those of
rice field. by narrow walks Each Of
these special features makes the garden
interesting at a particular time OF the
year while they are so carefully placed
that they do not interfere with the ar
tistic feeling which controls II and has
made II what IL is; and IL is this group
ing of inharmonious units, buildings.
and collections of plants in such way
that they do not intrude themselves In
the landscape, which is the chief merit
Of this garden and which makes II so
worthy Of study.
The mere love Of plants as well az
the student Of the art Of gardening Will
find much 10 interest him in Mitsukunis
creation. for in this garden he Will ma
some OF the finest trees that can be seen
In Japan, and among them several which
are probably as old as the garden itself,
and IL is interesting to note that, al
though as a general rule the Japanese
cultivate Chinese rather than japanese
plants in their gardens, here the planta-
tons are composed almost entirely OF
japanese trees. and that none OF the
clipped. dwarfed and distorted plants.
which are always a feature Ia the gar
dens Of the japanese school, appear here.
ON the hills above the lake are splendid
specimens Of the camphor tree. and Of
~. o.,Iye Of v.I