245 



tingency may in some soil be said to be excluded from an 

 art, which has, in all ages, j)cen proverbially unsuccessful 

 and fortuitous. 



As to the taking-up, and transporting of trees and under- 

 wood for close plantations, the very same directions may be 

 given for them as for park-wood, only that far less care and 

 nicety are necessary in the management of the former, far 

 fewer and shorter roots and branches, and in a word, the 

 possession of the non-protecting, instead of the protecting 

 properties. In respect to underwood for such plantations, as 

 they are wholly out of the reach of sheep and cattle, per- 

 haps something may be done towards giving a greater 

 variety of effect to it, than has usually been attempted, for 

 ornamental purposes, especially on the sides of walks, ap- 

 proaches, and the like. 



Underwood or bushes being thick shrubby plants of low 

 growth, from four to ten feet high, are procured in various 

 ways, but chiefly by selecting such plants as grow in this 

 style in woods and plantations ; or by heading down, or 

 cutting over trees of any sort that stole, or shoot out again, 

 after being cut. In the way last mentioned, bushes maybe 

 formed of any species, as of oak, elm, chestnut, and the 

 like, and of which the growth or foliage best suits the 

 views of the planter. But in default of these, and for the 

 purpose of procuring Immediate Effect, I have practised a 

 new method, which it may be worth while to lay before the 

 reader. This method I have called " the Composing of 

 Copse-wood," by which, we certainly have it in our power to 

 command, as well as to compose it. 



By the Composing of Copse-w^ood, I mean the making up 

 into one set or stool separate plants of the same species, from 

 three to four or five in number, and in that process combin- 

 ing the high and the low, the spreading and (he spiral, the 

 straight and the crooked, in one pleasing group or assem- 

 blage. With a little practice, guided by anything like taste 



