214 ENGLISH ESTATE FORESTRY 



The trees ought, in a general way, to increase in numbers 

 and density as they ascend the bank, leaving all ravines or 

 depressions in the sky-line comparatively bare, and massing 

 the trees on the hillocks and high ground. So placed, the 

 heights and hollows of the surface are increased, and the 

 general view presented to the eye rendered more intricate 

 and broken, and the variations of shade and sunlight in- 

 creased. With the masses composed of dense-foliaged trees, 

 such as beech, horse-chestnut, Scots fir, elm, lime, etc., and 

 the smaller groups and individuals of oak, ash, birch, acacia, 

 larch, etc., both the summer and winter effect of such a view 

 should be good, and, with grass and bracken below, the rich 

 browns of the buds and twigs, the greys of the stems and 

 branches, and the bleached or russet tints of the grass or 

 bracken during winter and early spring, will produce almost 

 as fine a picture as the deep shadows and rich masses of 

 foliage in summer, or the varied tints of autumn. 



The great point in planting or producing such scenes is, 

 of course, to prevent sharp outlines appearing at the edges 

 of clumps. It should, as a general rule, be impossible to 

 note any definite distinction between the clump, the group, 

 and the single tree, so far as their closeness or density is 

 concerned. The one should pass imperceptibly into the other, 

 the trees gradually thickening as the centre of a clump is 

 approached, and thinning out again as the more open ground 

 appears. A familiar example of the neglect of this rule is 

 often met with on the chalk downs of the south of England, 

 where small circular clumps of beech or Scots fir are seen on 

 the extreme summits of the hills. Ugly as they are, they 

 were doubtless intended by their planters as ornaments to 

 the landscape, but have entirely failed in their object owing 

 to their complete isolation, and violent contrast to the 

 condition of the surrounding ground. If the latter were 

 wooded to any extent, their presence might add to the general 

 effect which trees produce in such places. But, rising 

 abruptly in the midst of perhaps a thousand acres of bare 

 down, they are simply objects of an unattractive nature, 

 although they may serve as landmarks, if such are needed, 

 over a wide area. 



Another point which deserves attention in forming 



