188 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



Cassiobury affords a striking instance of 

 this mistaken Dlanting;. Tiie Grand Junction 

 Canal passes through the park, close under a 

 high and finely wooded bank. Under such a 

 circumstance, the improver, conceiving the 

 canal an unsightly object, made a plantation of 

 larch, fir, &c. to hide it : not perceiving that 

 the consequence of hiding the canal would be 

 the exclusion of the wooded bank beyond it — 

 the finest feature of the scene. The plantation 

 is now removed, and the occasional passing of 

 the boats is a source of cheerfulness rather 

 th an of d efo r m ity. 



If life and motion impart cheerfulness to 

 scenery, cattle, and particularly sheep, should 

 be admitted to the very boundary of the 

 dress-ground. Nor should I be anxious to 

 remove a pathway from the park, if it were 

 not too close to the house: the occasional 

 group of villagers supplying an additional 

 embellishment to the landscape. 



There are so many treatises on planting, as 

 connected with soil, exposure, &c. — the result 

 of greater experience than I possess on that 

 subject, — that it is with due deference I ven- 

 ture an opinion as to the distance at which 

 trees should be placed in forming a plant- 



