70 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



age, it constitutes in its various forms, sizes, and develop- 

 ments, the greatest charm and beauty of the earth in all 

 countries. The most varied outline of surface, the finest 

 combination of picturesque materials, the stateliest country 

 house would be comparatively tame and spiritless, without 

 the inimitable accompaniment of foliage. Let those who 

 have passed their whole lives in a richly wooded country, 

 whose daily visions are deep leafy glens, forest clad hills 

 and plains luxuriantly shaded, transport themselves for a 

 moment to the desert, where but a few stunted bushes raise 

 their heads above the earth, or those wild steppes where 

 the eye wanders in vain for some " leafy garniture," where 

 the sun strikes down with parching heat, or the wind 

 sweeps over with unbroken fury, and they may, perhaps 

 estimate, by contrast, their beauty and value. 



We are not now to enumerate the great usefulness of 

 trees, their value in the construction of our habitations, 

 our navies, the various implements of labor, in short, the 

 thousand associations which they suggest as ministering to 

 our daily wants ; but let us imagine the loveliest scene, the 

 wildest landscape, or the most enchanting valley, despoiled 

 of trees, and we shall find nature shorn of her fair propor- 

 tions, and the character and expression of these favorite 

 spots almost entirely destroyed. 



Wood, in its many shapes, is then one of the greatest 

 sources of interest and character in Landscapes. Variety, 

 which we need scarcely allude to as a fertile source of 

 beauty, is created in a wonderful degree by a natural 

 arrangement of trees. To a pile of buildings, or even of 

 ruins, to a group of rocks or animals, they communicate 

 new life and spirit by their irregular outlines, which, by 

 partially concealing some portions, and throwing others 



