THE CANADIAN HORTlCULTtrRlST, 



129 



means gloiy as well as daylight. The 

 lone and lofty mountains elevate him 

 to the contemplation of the Almighty 

 power, even while they are " a shelter 

 to the wild goats ;" and the dewy pas- 

 tures where the cattle graze and recline 

 in the long shadows, lull him to the 

 sweets of evening repose ; the spark- 

 iiiig stream, "where the wild asses 

 •quench their thirst," will soothe and 

 sing him to happiness and rest. The 

 majestic and commanding tree, whose 

 widespread branches shelter the pant- 

 ing animals from the blaze of the noon- 

 tide sun, is a picture of power and 

 strength and varying loveliness, which 

 is to him a source of never-ending de- 

 light. When his eye surveys the swell- 

 ing landscape, the emotions which be- 

 long to him as a child of the Creator 

 of all, inspire and elevate him above 

 the earth on which he treads, and dis- 

 tinguish him from that other order of 

 animal existence, to which all scenery 

 is alike, whose sensibilities no ugliness 

 of nature or art offends, which no staiTy 

 heavens delight, and no homely sur- 

 roundings disturb ; whose vision is 

 blind both to the graces and deformi- 

 ties of even its own kind, which nibbles 

 the daisy and the June gi'ass with 

 -equal satisfaction, and whose soul " can 

 not rejoice with those who rejoice, nor 

 weep with those who weep." It is 

 man alone who knows that " a thing of 

 beauty is a joy forever." 



TASTE IN TREE PLANTING. 



It is in accordance with this senti- 

 ment that man has applied his skill 

 and taste to the creation of all the 

 charming scenery of groves and bowers 

 and gardens, and to the enhancement 

 of natural beauties themselves. Great 

 gardens of antiquity, the monstrous 

 towering pleasure grounds of Rome and 

 Babylon, set an example which ad- 

 vancing civilieatien has not failed to 

 follow. The cultivation of parks and 



gardens constitutes one of the most 

 interesting and important duties of 

 modem art — a duty in the faithful per- 

 formance of which England has set an 

 admirable example. Leaving, in the 

 early part of the eighteenth century, 

 the formal and heavy style then in 

 vogue, through the influence of some 

 of her most illustrious poets — Addison 

 at Bilton, and Pope at Twickenham — 

 the English people revolutionized that 

 whole system, and established that 

 classical style of planting which has 

 since been so much admired and imi- 

 tated throughout the most refined parts 

 of Europe. 



This science of landscape gardening, 

 which advanced so slowly in the Old 

 World, and the proper system of con- 

 structing a city with light and water, 

 and parks and sliaded streets, which 

 was so shamefully neglected until a 

 comparatively recent period there, have 

 until within a few yeai-s been entirely 

 overlooked ia our own country. 



When more than seventy years ago, 

 the city of Cincinnati was founded and 

 the spot was chosen on which has been 

 erected such a splendid aiTay of public 

 buildings, private dwellings, music 

 halls, art galleries, churches and lib- 

 raries, the application of art to the 

 arrangement of gardens, parks, streets 

 and highways, was hardly thought of. 

 It was enough to clear the land and till 

 it without converting it into a pleasing 

 picture. It was all the early settlers 

 in our country could do to blaze a path 

 through the forest without considering 

 how best to crown and drain a highway, 

 and it was not until after the Revolu- 

 tionary war that the planting of trees 

 and shrubs was made a necessary part 

 of the laying out of gardens and grounds. 

 I remember well the only garden in the 

 State of Massachusetts, laid out early in 

 this century by an English gardener, 

 and kept in good order until within a 



