1870.] ON COLOUR IN TREE SCENERY. 463 



but oftener sailing noiselessly along, more or less rapidly, and every moment 

 changing in form. Then there are the dark thunderclouds, and the golden, 

 silvery, purple, and roseate hues, which often give both life and brilliancy to 

 the morning and evening sky. 



But we have the power given unto us to vary and adorn the surface of the earth, 

 and I would here invite public attention, and invoke the artist's aid in behalf of 

 colour. There appears to me a monotony on the face of our English landscapes 

 arising from one uniform and all-pervading colour — green. This monotony I 

 would seek to remove by the introduction of trees with purple, white, and yellow 

 leaves. "With the same end in view, I would also plant more freely the transi- 

 tory red, yellow, brown, and purple tints of spring and autumn, supplementing 

 these effects by the introduction of berry-bearing trees — trees with white, red, 

 black, and yellow berries, and trees with* white, red, and yellow bark for winter 

 ornament. With these preliminary remarks I shall endeavour to show, 1st, 

 that the object I seek is desirable ; next, that it is attainable ; and shall 

 conclude with a few general remarks and brief examples in support of 

 my views. I am free to confess that there is nothing in the whole 

 range of nature which yields me more pleasure than the contemplation of a beau- 

 tiful landscape. To stand on some elevated spot in the English or Scotch lake 

 district, for example, and look down on a broad and varied expanse of country; 

 to row upon the surface of the lake, and look upwards upon the towering masses 

 of rock and tree ; to trace the lake shores, the lake islets and waterfalls, is, I 

 believe, a recreation of a highly intellectual and more aesthetic order than the 

 many who have not practised it might at first sight take it to be. 



A highly- cultivated American gentleman once said to me : " England is a series 

 of varied and improved landscapes. Now and then in remote districts one 

 catches a glimpse of nature, unaided and adorned ; but generally throughout the 

 length and breadth of the land high art has been so skilfully applied as to effect 

 the artist's object without leaving behind any traces of the artist's hand. But I 

 miss the brilliant autumnal glow of the American forests : your landscapes lack 

 colour." This very nearly expresses my ideas of English scenery; the natural 

 beauties of our landscapes have in many cases been improved or developed at a 

 sufficiently distant date, that the old and the new have become blended in one 

 harmonious whole, leaving no strong lines of demarcation between the work of 

 nature and the work of art ; but the landscapes are generally cold and mono- 

 tonous — wanting in variety and colour. 



If we proceed to analyse a beautiful English landscape we shall find it composed 

 of diversity of surface, light and shade, wood, water, rock, and many minor 

 accessories, which may or may not be present, either singly or in combination. 

 These I mention not to dwell upon, but to dismiss, as the recognised features of 

 the landscape. My business at present is with tree scenery, and principally 

 with one feature of it — colour. Our earth-tints are prominently neutral, often 

 sombre ; and to correct this should, in my judgment, be a leading idea with the 

 true artist in landscape-gardening. A piece of country, however beautiful by 

 nature — a garden, however perfectly planned — yields more or less pleasure 

 according to the skill and taste exercised in the planting; just as the proportions 

 and beauty of the human form are improved or otherwise by the style of dress — 

 trees, shrubs, and flowers constituting, in fact, the exterior dress of the garden 

 and the landscape. Now it must be patent to those even who are but slightly 

 acquainted with this subject, that the labours of our plant-collectors abroad and 

 plant-cultivators at home have placed within our reach many trees with coloured 

 leaves — purple, yellow, and white — of various shades, and I hold that these 



