LANDSCAPE FORESTRY 205 



stages of growth can be taken advantage of to open or shut 

 out views from time to time as desired, and thus constantly 

 create fresh or alter existing effects. 



EFFECT OF TREES ON THE PRINCIPAL TYPES OF 

 NATURAL SCENERY. 



A perfect landscape is usually supposed to consist of 

 land, wood, and water ; the first named being the exclusive 

 product of natural causes, and the two last being either the 

 result of artificial or natural agency. But in the three 

 distinct types of landscape entirely produced by natural 

 causes which are represented by a forest, a moor or open 

 plain, and a tract of mountainous country untouched by 

 human agency, the influence of trees varies to a considerable 

 extent. In a forest of natural growth trees practically 

 constitute whatever scenery there is, and the view is usually 

 of an extremely limited nature, according to the undulations 

 of the ground and the existence of glades or clearings here 

 and there. On a moor or open plain whatever trees exist 

 are prominent objects for a considerable distance, and they 

 are capable in themselves of rendering such a landscape 

 picturesque, monotonous, or absolutely ugly, according to the 

 way in which they are distributed over the surface. In a 

 mountainous or hilly country land is presented to the eye on 

 a large scale, and such details as trees or water are dwarfed 

 in proportion to the extent of the view and the height of the 

 hills. Grandeur and wildness are here strongly in evidence, 

 and such objects as trees merely furnish detail, which is only 

 apparent at a comparatively short distance. 



When the extent is considered to which the forester, or 

 his especial charges woods or trees are able to make, alter, 

 or modify a landscape, it is necessary to confine one's attention 

 to one or the other of these distinct types of scenery. To 

 compare the effect of trees on a flat plain to that of such 

 objects amidst a range of lofty mountains is obviously 

 absurd. In the one case they are bold and prominent 

 objects in themselves, in the other they are more or less 

 minute details which do not materially affect the bolder 



