384 RELATIONS OF TREES TO ORNAMENT. 



when he declares that he has not preserved a single object 

 from any consideration of taste. On the other hand, he 

 convinces them that trees are more profitable to him on 

 this ridge than anything else that could be made to grow 

 there. They prevent inundations from showers, protect 

 the grounds from wind, and in a hundred ways improve 

 the local climate and increase the productiveness of his 

 farm. 



Let me follow my philosophic neighbor in other meas- 

 ures that contribute to the beauty of his grounds, though 

 designed only for some economical purpose. A small 

 river winds through his farm, which is liable to overflow 

 and wash the soil from its banks. To guard them from 

 this accident, he has preserved the trees, shrubs, and 

 vines upon them, except those parts which by their con- 

 dition are exempt from danger. In one place there is a 

 small peninsula, which is formed by a sudden bend in the 

 course of the river, and would be liable to be demolished by 

 an inundation, if its banks were not strengthened by nature 

 or art. This neck of land is kept entirely covered with trees 

 and shrubs, whose interwoven roots prevent the encroach- 

 ment of the stream. The little grove thus maintained 

 upon it offers the birds both shelter and seclusion, and in 

 spring and summer it is a perfect orchestra of woodland 

 song. It is delightful to sail down this river on a calm 

 summer's day, under the shade of the trees that frequently 

 meet and interlace their branches from the opposite sides, 

 and view the landscape from the frequent openings. The 

 grounds of the whole farm are picturesque and beautiful, 

 though nothing has been done or left undone except for 

 some useful and economical purpose. 



My other neighbor is a man of aesthetic proclivities, 

 a lover of the "beautiful," and, having considerable 

 wealth, he determined to convert his estate -into a ferme 

 ornee. His grounds are so similar in their natural con- 



