STYLE AND EXPEESSIOX IN TREES AND SHRUBS. 193 



bring themselves to such a national economical illumination, that 

 their own interest may go hand in hand with the well-being of 

 the whole state, and the first cannot long continue without the 

 last ; whereas at present a narrow-mindedness is frequently exhi- 

 bited, which with confined views works against its own interest, 

 while it holds the nearest profit as the surest, forgetting that a 

 speculation for ten days in the case of mortal men is not more 

 sure than one for ten years. 



XIII. — On Style and Expression in certain Trees and Shrubs ; 

 their Adaptabilities, Sic By Robert Errington, C.M.H.S., 

 Gardener to Sir Philip de Malpas Grey Egerton, Bart., M.P., 

 F.H.S., Oulton Park, Tarporley, Cheshire. 



(Communicated April IG, 1852.) 



Landscape gardening in its strict sense has scarcely kept pace 

 with what has been termed the Gardenesque of late years ; and 

 why ? Simply I suppose from the fact, that where there is one 

 person Avho can appreciate the beauties of lines and forms inde- 

 pendent of colour, there are a score who cannot ; but who never- 

 theless are, it may be, adepts at what is termed " clumping " 

 flowers and all the paraphernalia of the flower garden. 



Whilst, however, England sustains her position in the van of 

 civilisation, so long must true landscape gardening be fostered ; 

 and it must be confessed, tliat we owe its preservation and encou- 

 ragement mainly to our aristocracy, who are ever in a better 

 position to appreciate its value than any other class of society. 



My purpose is to draw attention to the beauties of form in 

 certain trees and shrubs, old-fashioned kinds or not, and to point 

 to their eligibilities, whether in the park, the ordinary pleasure- 

 grounds, or the flower-garden. As country' seats differ — and 

 indeed should do so — as to their general tone or expression, 

 sometimes through position and adventitious circumstances, and 

 sometimes as a matter of design, it follows that a judicious adap- 

 tation of trees and shrubs becomes necessary, whether as accom- 

 paniments or as constituting a portion of the chief features of the 

 grounds. In most of the pleasure-grounds connected with the 

 seats of our nobility and gentrj^, certain by-scenes, retreats, nooks, 

 or decorative adjuncts occur, which either possess a kind of indi- 

 viduality, or require it to be created by the skill of the artist. 

 Hence the necessity for a nice perception of the character and 

 ultimate expression of trees and shrubs. The grave and the gay 

 would be terms far too sweeping in their signification to embrace 



