INTEKMINGLING OF FORMS AND COLORS. 165 



the fixed, imcbaugeablo green of the oak and the pine, 

 those models of strength and endurance! And after 

 the frosts of autumn have touched them, what woods 

 on earth can compare with the gorgeous tints and colors 

 of the deciduous leaves, relieved and supported by the 

 unchanging hue of the evergreens? From the airy, 

 lemon tints of the poplar and sugar maple, running 

 down into the deep orange of the hickory ; from the 

 liveliest scarlet of the soft maples, to the mellow rus- 

 set of the oaks and the ashs, in all their variety ; each 

 and every one soft and beautiful for many da^'s, some- 

 times for weeks, our forests present a brilliancy and a 

 grandeur unsurpassable in their kind. 



It is not at all necessary for the American to go into 

 the refinement and the particularity of the English 

 planter to effect his object. Our mixed, natural forests 

 supply the best expression possible to park and forest 

 scenery, in tree and shrub. All we have to do, where 

 not furnished by the undisturbed hand of nature her- 

 self, is, to imitate her in the blandest and most agree- 

 able forms within our power ; and in whatever we add, 

 by way of exotic, let us be sure that no exaggerated 

 contrast is presented to the harmony of our own luxu- 

 riant productions. — Ed. 



