198 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



" resulting not from the colours themselves, 

 " but almost entirely from their harmony 

 " with other colours in their neighbourhood. 

 " So that as the fir tree is supported, com- 

 " bined, or stationed, it forms a pleasing tint, 

 " or a murky spot. 



" A second source of that contempt, in 

 " which the Scotch fir is commonly held, is 

 " our rarely seeing it in a picturesque state. 

 " Scotch firs are seldom planted as single 

 " treeSf or in a judicious group ; but generally 

 " in close compact bodies, in thick array, which 

 " suffocates or cramps them ; and if they ever 

 " get loose from this bondage, they are 

 " already ruined ; — their lateral branches 

 " are gone, and their stems are drawn into 

 " poles, on which their heads appear stuck as 

 " on a centre. Whereas if the tree had 

 " grown in its natural state, all mischief had 

 " been prevented ; its stem would have taken 

 " an easy sweep ; and its lateral branches, 

 " which naturally grow with as much beauti- 

 " ful irregularity as those of deciduous trees, 

 " would have hung loosely and negligently ; 

 " and the more so, as there is something 

 " peculiarly light and feathery in its foliage. 

 " I mean not to assert, that every Scotch fir. 



