321 



the country "[enUpman, who, havinfj no practical skill himself, is yet 

 desirous to imj)rovo real landscape where it already exists, or to create 

 it where it is wantiiijT. 



As a proof that the professors of liindscapo gardening do not obsti- 

 nately cling to antiquated errors, Mr. Pontey (who has usefully written 

 on the planting and pruning of trees), a disciple and admirer of Crown, 

 puhlished, in 1825, a meritorious work on "the laying-out of grounds," 

 though with an odd title, namely, "The Rural Improver." The book, 

 though not well written, contains excellent matter : it shows much prac- 

 tical skill, and should have a place in the library of every country gentle- 

 man. It is certain, that considerable knowledge of the principles of land- 

 scape, however obtained, and some skill in the practice of creating it, are 

 indispensable to every one, who would transplant with advantage. This 

 is a subject well deserving of discussion ; but it would require far more 

 than could be comprised within the short compass of a note. 



Note V. Page 47. 



With respect to the Immediate Effect of Wood in to\Vn embellish* 

 ments, it would prove particularly valuable for the squares, and other 

 open grounds of a great city. Edinburgh, one of the most extraordi- 

 nary places in Europe, whether for its picturesque situation, or the 

 sudden erection of its finest streets and squares, lately lost an opportu- 

 nity of obtaining wood in this way, w^hich is not likely soon to occur 

 again. The Royal Circus, Moray Place, Heriot Row, and other places 

 and squares, having spacious open grounds attached to them, were built 

 in the immediate vicinity of what was once the delightful Villa and 

 grounds of the Earl of Moray, on the W'ater of Leith ; and, indeed, 

 nearly the whole of them have grown out of the destruction of that 

 elegant little Park. Its woods had been admirably kept, and, what is 

 more, judiciously thinned out, by the taste of the late, and the present 

 Lord Moray, and would have afforded subjects in sufficient number, of 

 nearly five-and-forty years' growth, and also in the very best rooting- 

 ground, to wood the one-half of the metropohs. It is to be lamented, 

 that there was no science at hand, to have achieved this striking im- 

 provement, as it would have done more to estabUsh the power of the art 

 in the public opinion, than twenty volumes like the present ; and, more- 

 over, it would have anticipated at least thirty years, in the picturesque 

 appearance of the city. 



I do not mean of course, to say, that this should have been all done 

 with fine krge grove wood, or standard trees. No man of good taste. 



41 



