220 ENGLISH ESTATE FORESTRY 



production, or which would require expensive preparation to 

 render them so. Boggy places, or patches of rocky or 

 extremely thin soils, are often useless for timber growing, 

 and, when planted, only give rise to a sickly and stunted 

 growth. Left alone, they cover themselves with their 

 characteristic surface growth, and give a certain forest 

 character to the wood, whatever it may be. Occasionally 

 such places are adapted for growing dwarf shrubs, semi- 

 aquatic or bog plants, and others which, at little expense, will 

 add to the attractions of the wood, if not to its market value, 

 and provide the occasional open space which keepers like for 

 shooting corners. Much of the natural beauty of woods 

 must undoubtedly arise from nature herself ; but there are 

 many ways in which artificial assistance may be given, and 

 such are a few of them. 



ORNAMENTAL WOODS. 



The landscape effects of woods hitherto mentioned only 

 refer to those due to the ordinary growing of common 

 forest trees for purposes of utility or sport, and to mixtures 

 due to occasional changes of soil. But the interior of woods, 

 from a landscape point of view, is of far more importance 

 in those plantations, or parts of plantations, which are often 

 set apart to serve the purpose of rough pleasure grounds, 

 through which the owner or his friends can ride or walk, 

 " when," as Mrs. Gamp would observe, " they be so dispoged." 



At the outset it must be mentioned that the term 

 " ornamental " is only used to distinguish such plantations 

 from those managed entirely for sport or profit, and does 

 not necessarily indicate that they consist of ornamental 

 trees alone, such as the newer conifers or flowering trees or 

 shrubs. A wood or plantation may be, and often is, far 

 more ornamental when composed entirely of indigenous 

 forest trees or shrubs than when crowded up with orna- 

 mental conifers planted with little or no judgment or 

 taste. The principal features which render a plantation 

 picturesque or the reverse have already been dealt with, 

 and of course these features are equally as important and 



