The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-01-14

noblemans garden. The sand-plot, like
 the grass-plot, is carefully groomed. Nc
 sign to keep off the grass" or keep
 off the sand is needed for Japanese 1 would as soon tramp on these beauty | spots as an American would throw a l brick through the window of church.
 In every garden you will find quaint
 shaped stones holding water, and, some- 1 where, there is pretty sure to be a | shachi-hoko, a fish dragon with his head in the sand and tail in the air. The same idea appears in many of the tenn 1 pies.
 l In most of the public gardens are to be found tombs of emperors or digni- taries covering a period of thousand years. The form of these tombs is
 usually great pile of stones, laid one
 upon another, of which the tomb of Kiyomori 1t Hiogog is an excellent eX-
 ample. In the case of gardens inhabit-
 ed chiefly by Shinto deities, we are con-
 fronted at the entrance by the fam liar
 torii-tWo great shafts of wood sup
 porting two cross pieces. The original
 intention of the torri (which really
 means ''roostD was to provide roost-
 ing place for the fowls, that they might
 crow in the morn and awake the gods.
 But for the wonders of the lotus and
 the wistaria, one must visit the 10 acre
 garden of Kameido in the suburb of Tokyo, For hundred years, Kameido
 has been the home of the wistaria,
 which is found entwined everywhere over the tea houses, theb ooths and the bowers, which in turn are frequently built over the lakes. The waters are filled with golden carp to which visit ors feed rice and hard boiled eggs, and on the border of Lake BiWa stands an old gnarled tree which is also fond of rice and must be fed The lake is sea of lotus plants; the shore hedge of iris blossoms of prsma tic violet. On rainy days, lotus turns it's cup to the clouds; when filed, it empties with a splash and again turns it's cup to the storm for more. ThereupOu the the pond frog, screams with delight, while the amagaeru, the green tree frog, squawks response from aloft The mori, the red be'ied fish, peer from the wster to 1irt with the diadia mushi, the striped snails on the stones.
 Swallows and wild doves and hoot owls and even crows share with the Jap the pleasure of the garden. The hoo hoo bird tells the farmer when to plant his millet and the sparrow builds his nest in the rafters of the Nippon dwell- ing.
 . The Japanese garden must have a corner for the chrysanthemum, one for the shrine of his household gods, one for the foxes, and another for his peonies. The cherry and the plum are the floral wonders of the country. These trees are grown for the flowers rather than the fruit The whole tree blooms like a gigantic rose; while the petals cover the ground like a snow bank. The blossoms frequently attain the size of large rose, The p'um blooms a month before the cherry and the hos- soming of each is celebrated by na- tional holiday. To exaeeerate the splen- dor of this floral exhibition is impossi- ble; many writers have tried it end ! failed it cannot be done.
 Then comes the wistaria and then the | peony. Tn some parts of the country, [ the public schools close in honor of the l blooming Of the peony. This is especial y true of the little island of Dia- | <onshima, which in it's season is ablaze with crimson.
 In the public schools, a coarse of | study is given in floral arrangement | along with the grammar and aritf- netic, and the rules of the art are ex- strict. There IS but one gen eral rule or principle on which the whole system of instruction is based JuGs pIohg,. ol GI9Lam sI 1eul puB