322 



I think, will so uiulrrslaiid it. But the miserable single trees and de- 

 tached groups, that now appear upon the open jiarts of the grounds in 

 question, should liave been of that large description, which would have 

 given effect and consequence to liieir narrow, but undulating surface ; 

 while shrubs and underwood, abundantly intermixed, would have con- 

 ferred on them richness and intricacy. There were a great number of 

 the last mentioned subjects (I mean shmbs and stools of underwood), at 

 this Villa, from five to eifht feet high, that would have richly clothed 

 the entire open grounds of the new part of the city. 



In the same way, it would be quite practicable, if wished for, although 

 the exposure is considerably greater, to wood the site of what will here- 

 after become our Acropolis, as soon as the projected Parthenon rises on 

 the Calton Hill. But where arc the subjects now to be found ? Dur- 

 ing the provostship or mayoralty of the late excellent Mr. Henderson, 

 in 182 1, 1 had agreed to give a specimen of what might be done, by 

 planting a very large sycamore, with a spreading top, on the very highest 

 part of the Hill, near Nelson's Monument. The tree was selected in 

 Lord Moray's grounds for the purpose ; but the sudden death of this 

 worthy chief magistrate put an end to the undertaking. 



Note IV. Page 50. 



Highly gratifying as the Report of the Committee of the Highland 

 Society must be to me, as attesting the success of my improvements in 

 the art, and that on authority too high to be called in question ; yet I 

 own, I was not less gratified by the flattering mention of them, in one of 

 the productions of the Author of Waverley ; works which will, in all 

 probability, live as long as the J'^^guage endures, in which they are 

 written. I regret that I am prevented by circumstances from quoting 

 the passage. 



Soon after this report was made, the society advertised a premium of 

 ten guineas, or a piece of plate of equal value, for the best Essay on the 

 Removal of Large Trees and Underwood. As I had then collected 

 materials for the present Treatise, which were of a more extensive sort 

 than would have suited the Society's regulations, I declined entering 

 into competition for this premium. It was gained by the overseer of a 

 gentleman in Perthshire, a very meritorious person, who gave merely an 

 account of his own practice, for some years back. But, as he was pro- 

 bably not conversant with science, and had no idea that the art was sus- 

 ceptible of fixed principles, I did not conceive that it precluded, or in 

 any degree anticipated the present publication. 



