Wood and Plantations 81 



in parallel or drooping tufts from the branches. The vari- 

 ous evergreen trees, composing the spruce and fir families, 

 most of the pines, the cedar, and among deciduous trees, 

 the larch, belong to this division. Their hue is generally 

 much darker than that of deciduous trees, and there is a 

 strong similarity, or almost sameness, in the different kinds 

 of trees which may properly be called spiry-topped. 



From their sameness of form and surface this class of 

 trees, when planted in large tracts or masses, gives much 

 less pleasure than round-headed trees; and the eye is soon 

 wearied with the monotony of appearance presented by 

 long rows, groups, or masses, of the same form, outline, and 

 appearance; to say nothing of the effect of the uniform 

 dark color, unrelieved by the warmer tints of deciduous 

 trees. Any one can bear testimony to this, who has trav- 

 elled through a pine, hemlock, or fir forest, where he could 

 not fail to be struck with its gloom, tediousness, and mon- 

 otony, especially when contrasted with the variety and 

 beauty in a natural wood of deciduous, round-headed trees. 



Although spiry-topped trees in large masses cannot be 

 generally admired for ornamental plantations, yet they 

 have a character of their own, which is very striking and 

 peculiar, and we may add, in a high degree valuable to 

 the Landscape Gardener. Their general expression when 

 single or scattered is extremely spirited, wild, and pictur- 

 esque; and when judiciously introduced into artificial scen- 

 ery, they produce the most charming and unique effects. 

 The situations where they have most effect is among 

 rocks and in very irregular surfaces, and especially on 

 the steep sides of high mountains, where their forms and 

 the direction of their growth seem to harmonize with the 

 pointed rocky summits. Fir and pine forests are extremely 

 dull and monotonous in sandy plains and smooth surfaces 

 (as in the pine barrens of the southern states); but among 

 the broken rocks, craggy precipices, and otherwise end- 

 lessly varied surfaces (as in the Alps, abroad, and the various 

 rocky heights in the Highlands of the Hudson and the 

 Alleghanies, at home) they are full of variety. 



