The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1913-07-23

work. the yew is perhaps the best. and
It's rich green tones and soft velvety
texture cannot be surpassed.
Most Of the examples now standing
in England are of the yew, partly ow-
ing to the fact that 1t is a slow grower,
and, once having attained maturity.
survives for many years. Privet,. box,
and rosemary are also used, but ex-
amples of topiary work in these are
not frequently to be seen in foreign
countries
The peacock is the form into which
the trees of England are most com
monty cut. At Bedford in Middlesex
two gigantic peacocks overshadow the
church porch, and in a garden in Had
don Hall a similar peacock sits Sc
dately among the flowers. Biblical
subjects are notably represented in
formal gardens of E1vaston in Derby
shire and Earlshal1 in Fifeshire, the
former containing a large variety of
tons in yew.
Ridiculed by Pope.
Topiary work in yew and box has
in some instances been carried to an
excess and treated with ridicule. A
visit to the gardens at Leavens might
almost have justified Pope's famous
article In the Guardian wherein he
rid1cules the absurdities and excuses
of ''verdant sculpture" In his witty
catalogue of greens" to be disposed of
Uy an eminent Town gardener,
amongst other items he notes:
Adam and Eve in yew; Adam a
little shattered by the tree in the
great storm; Eve and the serpent very
f1ourishing.
'Noah's Ark in holly; the ribs a lit
tie damaged for want of water.
''The Tower of Babel, not yet fin
ished
''St. George in box; his arm scarce
ly long enough. but will be in a con-
fn er@f 1lr 10 I~r A-r%
April
The Romans indeed seem to have
been fond of this mode of adjoining
their gardens, the resemb1ances having
frequently been produced by twisting
and tying its branches with ropes and
strings.
The labor bestowed upon designing
and executing topiary work will now
adays be scarcely credited, nor can
the perfection at which they arrived
be easily conceived. Somewhere in the
Of Paris there Is a piece
of this kind Of work so intricate that
the siege of Troy is represented, with
the contendinR armies and their gen.
erals. In a garden near Chartres the
Seven Wise Men of Greece and the
Labors of Hercules are elegantly re-
presented, accompanied by Latin
verses framed out of living verdre. At
the same place the Three Graces are
reproduced. and a representation of the |
Heather Deities banqueting at one |
table, and the Roman at another.
In the garden at Brerewood is a yew |
tree with divers branches issuing out |
Of 1T at about a yard from the ground |
forming a spacious arbor about FIVE |
Yards, but within not exceeding ten |
feet, cut on top with loop and crest |
ike the battlement of a tower adorned |
1t each corner with a pinnacle over |
which is wrought a canopy out of the
a hTso oIn two orI- t.
which is carried up again at the top in |
L similar pinnacle.
French Style of Horticulture.
An instance of the French style of |
horticulture is to be found at Hampton |
Court, where the pleached arcades of !
beech excite universal admiration in
England. The grounds at Haddon Hall
n Derbyshire and Stonyhurst in Ian
;ashire. likewise retain their old de-
signs. But one Of the most perfect |
'pecimens of topiary work is at Lea
7ens in Westmoreland At that place a |
,rofusion Of yews, hol1ies and other
,vergreens have been transformed into
many shapes. Here is Madame n
Refine with her arms most royalty akin
10, opposite to Monsieur lie Roi bearing
he semblance of a kingly crown. Not
ar distant are some trees like gigantic
hessmen- The smaller shrubs, OF
which there are vast number, greenly
hadow forth cones, cubes, vases, foam
ng tankards. etc.
The deicacy with which these OBJ
ects of yew and box are carved out
# or rather into, the foliage would
maze those who had previously seen
lothing of the kind.
The topiary work being installed IN
he parks and circles of the national
apita1 has already created universal
.dmiration. and this innovation of
bids fair to be rapidly
.dopted by the larger cites of .he
United States in the future.
Some of the yew specimens described