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JOURNAL OF RURil ART AM) RURAL TASTE. 



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IJ N WHAT does the beauty of a tree consist ? We mean, of course, wLat may strict- 

 ^ ly be caUed an ornamental tree — not a tree planted for its fruit in tbe orchard, or 

 growing for timber in the forest, but standing alone in the lawn or meadow — grow- 

 ing in groups in the pleasure-ground, over-arching the road-side, or bordering some 

 stately avenue. 



Is it not, first of all, that such a tree, standing where it can grow untouched, and 

 develop itself on all sides, is one of the finest pictures of symmetry and proportion 

 that the eye can any where meet with ? The tree may be young, or it may be old, 

 but if left to nature, it is sure to grow into some form that courts the eye and satisfies 

 it. It may branch out boldly and grandly, like the Oak; its top may be broad and 

 stately, like the Chestnut, or drooping and elegant, like the Elm, or delicate and airy, 

 like the Birch, but it is sure to grow into the type-form — either beautiful or pic- 

 turesque — that nature stamped upon its species, and which is the highest beauty that 

 such tree can possess. It is true, that nature plants some trees, like the fir and pine, in 

 the fissures of the rock, and on the edge of the precipice ; that she twists their boughs 

 and gnarls their stems, by storms and tempests — thereby adding to their picturesque 

 power in sublime and grand scenery ; but as a general truth, it may be clearly stated 

 that the Beautiful, in a tree of any kind, is never so fully developed as when, in a ge- 

 nial soil and climate, it stands quite alone, stretching its boughs upward freely to the 

 sky, and outwai-d to the breeze, and even downward towards the earth — almost touching 

 it with their graceful sweep, till only a glimpse of the fine trunk is had at its spread- 

 ing base, and the whole top is one great globe of floating, waving, drooping or sturdy 

 luxuriance, giving one as perfect an idea of symmetry and proportion, as can be found 

 of the Grecian Apollo itself, 

 have taken the pains to present this hemi-idcal of a fine ornamental tree 



Feb. 1, 1851. 



No. 2. 



