415 



for the purpose of concealing such objects as require concealment, as 

 accompaniments to tlie water, the approaches, or the like. They ap- 

 pear iu considerable variety in this park, and are contrasted in a j)leasing 

 manner with the single trees, and open groups above described. There 

 is one largo mass of wood, of almiit two acres in extent, througli which 

 the Eastern A])proach to the place passes. That plantation we will 

 endeavour shortly to describe, both as showing the taste and skill, with 

 which the park is laid out, and tiio general and extensive uses, to which 

 the art in question may bo applied, in similar situations. 



This approach was originally laid out by Mr. White, and does credit 

 to his professional talents. At one place, it seems, it appeared ex- 

 tremely desirable to that artist to mask or conceal the approach from 

 the house and adjoining grounds, and it was equally proper, at the same 

 place, to conceal the house from them. This desirable object could be 

 effected only by means of wood ; and as the ground, for the most part, 

 hung or inclined pretty considerably towards the principal objects to be 

 shut out from the approach, half a life-time might elapse, ere the de- 

 sired effect could be produced from that quarter, by the ordinary mode 

 of planting, as only four larches, and three beeches of considerable size, 

 then stood upon these two acres of ground. But Sir Henry resolved to 

 attain the desired end at once, by means of the Transplanting Machine, 

 and he successfully accomplished it in a single season. Trees of va- 

 rious sorts, from twenty-five to thirty feet high, were then first planted 

 as standards or grove-wood, at the distance of from eighteen to five- 

 and-twenty feet, and the intervals were filled up with bushes, or stools 

 of copse or underwood, from four to six feet in height, and five and six 

 feet asunder. Thus, the appearance of a plantation of considerable 

 statiding was immediately obtained, and the eye effectually prevented 

 from wandering among the stems, and discovering the actual extent of 

 the boundary. 



As the approach passes through this mass of wood, for about four 

 hundred yards, we had an opportunity of viewing it to great advantage. 

 The uncommon beauty, luxuriance, and closeness of the wood, together 

 with the retired and sequestered appearance of the spot, struck us as 

 particularly pleasing, contrasted as it was with the open lawTi, which 

 we had just before left. Here the standard trees, of course, were seen 

 to make freer shoots, than those which stood singly upon the open 

 ground, and the shoots of the underwood greater still. The underwood 

 consists of oak, witch-elm, beech, birch, holly, hazel, mountain-ash, 

 thorn, chestnut, English and Norway maple, common and Canadian 

 birdscherry, and such other plants, as are usually found in natural 



