CHAPTER III 



ON WOOD AND PLANTATIONS 



"He gains all points, who pleasingly confounds, 

 Surprises, varies, and conceals the bounds. 

 Calls in the country, catches opening glades, 

 Joins willing woods, and varies shades from shades; 

 Now breaks, or now directs the intending lines; 

 Paints as you plant, and, as you work, designs." 



POPE. 



AMONG all the materials at our disposal for the em- 

 bellishment of country residences, none are at once 

 so highly ornamental, so indispensable, and so easily 

 managed, as trees, or wood. We introduce them in every 

 part of the landscape, - - in the foreground as well as in 

 the distance, on the tops of the hills and in the depths of 

 the valleys. They are, indeed, like the drapery which 

 covers a somewhat ungainly figure, and while it conceals 

 its defects, communicates to it new interest and expression. 

 A tree, undoubtedly, is one of the most beautiful objects 

 in nature. Airy and delicate in its youth, luxuriant and 

 majestic in its prime, venerable and picturesque in its old 

 age, it constitutes in its various forms, sizes, and develop- 

 ments the greatest charm and beauty of the earth in all 

 countries. The most varied outline of surface, the finest 

 combination of picturesque materials, the stateliest country 

 house would be comparatively tame and spiritless, without 

 the inimitable accompaniment of foliage. Let those who 

 have passed their whole lives in a richly wooded country, 

 - whose daily visions are deep leafy glens, forest clad hills 

 and plains luxuriantly shaded, - - transport themselves for a 

 moment to the desert, where but a few stunted bushes raise 

 their heads above the earth, or those wild steppes where 

 the eye wanders in vain for some "leafy garniture ' 



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