IHE PICTURESQUE STYLE. 43 



ally given In attempts to teach the natural style, that the 

 sky line should be broken ; but this expedient for variety 

 may well have its limits in most naturalistic composi- 

 tions. In a development of the picturesque it has prac- 

 tically no limit, and the more the sky line may be serried 

 and cut the more emphatic will be the resulting effect. 

 The scattering specimens of starved and deformed 

 pines which one sees at some places on rugged hill or 

 mountain sides have a charming picturesqueness in 

 themselves which fits well into their surroundings. 

 Solid groups of symmetrically developed trees in such 







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K. 



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PIG. 13. RUSTIC PK'TURESQUENESS. 



Fiom aCaUfoinia park. 



situations would be patent detractions from the general 

 local effect. The scattering individuals .have a great 

 advantage, and these are best displayed in middle dis- 

 tances. A single tree is always a middle-ground subject. 

 If it be too close to the observer its composite beauty is 

 unseen ; if it be too far, its individuality is blurred. All 

 this is of especial weight in a specimen exhibited for its 

 individual eccentricities. It lias even been the practice 

 in some instances to plant dead and blasted trees in 

 pleasure grounds for the picturcsqueness of their effect, 

 but the expediency of such a plan is very questionable. 



