WAYSIDE SHKUBBERY. 



THERE are some persons in the world whose ideas of 

 beauty run almost entirely into waving lines, smoothness, 

 and rotundity. They cannot bear to see anything in land- 

 scape that does not convey the sentiment of costly dress- 

 ing and ornamentation. In their sight nothing is so 

 beautiful as a well -trimmed hedge -row, or a nicely painted 

 fence. They abhor any appearance of rudeness about their 

 grounds, or anything that is not an evidence of wealth and 

 " aesthetic culture " ; believing that the more completely 

 Nature is subdued by Art, the more credit she reflects upon 

 her owner ! They regard Nature as they do their horse, 

 and believe, if she can be made to look sleek and plump, 

 they have fully carried out one of the beneficent designs 

 of Providence, whom they regard as the great teacher 

 of aesthetics ! 



Unfortunate are the picturesque old roads that fall 

 under the management of this class of men, when em- 

 ployed as surveyors of the highways. In their view, 

 no spontaneous production of nature should remain 

 there, except the gravel. Not even a tree must be tol- 

 erated, unless it was planted there by human hands. 

 All wild growths of shrubbery are condemned to perish. 

 If a by-road be embroidered with a charming variety 

 of native shrubs and herbaceous plants, at one season 

 adorned with flowers, at another with fruits, and at all 

 times with foliage, they send the plough directly into 

 this mass, to carry out their ideas of neatness and smooth- 

 ness, and to expel Nature as if she were a Gorgon or a 

 Hydra. 



