418 



and its fitness for the general purposes of shelter or landscape seemed, 

 in our judgment, very satisfactorily established. 



The committee, having thus given their personal evidence to the 

 complete success of Sir Henry Steuart's plan, will now proceed, agree- 

 ably to the Society's recommendation, to notice the two points specially 

 recommended to their observation : — 1st, the number of trees, which 

 may have decayed after removal ; and 2dly the expense of the operation. 



On the first point, your committee are enabled to state with confidence, 

 that the number of trees, which decay after having been transplanted, 

 must be very small indeed. They had this point particularly in their 

 eye ; and, in traversing the whole of the grounds, they saw only one 

 transplanted tree which appeared to have died, the others being all, to 

 the number of many hundreds, in uncommon strength and vigour, those 

 planted within the year only difTering from the others, in the smallness, 

 of their leaves, but exhibiting no symptoms of decay, either in bark or 

 twig. The committee further beg to report, that if dead trees had been 

 purposely removed out of the way, the operation could not, they think, 

 have been so effectually done, but that vestiges of it would have been 

 visible. Sir Henry supposes there may, in general, be a failure of one 

 in forty, or fivc-and-f or ly. But doubtless, such complete success could 

 not be attained in the first instance, until the planter had acquired a great 

 degree of skill and experience, both as to the choice of the subjects, 

 and the mode of carrying through the operation. 



Upon the expense of the process, by which so pleasing and wonder- 

 ful a change upon the face of nature is effected, with so much compara- 

 tive rapidity, the committee are not qualified to speak with precision ; for 

 the season, at which they visited AUanton House, though the best adapt- 

 ed for seeing the effects of the operation, was not suited to the witness- 

 ing of the operation itself In general, they beg leave to observe, that 

 the Removal of Large Trees must be considered as a part of landscape 

 gardening, and belonging, of course, rather to the fine arts, than to those 

 which have utility only for their object ; and therefore, the expense must 

 not be weighed so scrupulously, as if a return of actual profit were the 

 end to be obtained. Value, no doubt, every proprietor acquires, when 

 he converts bare and unsightly grounds into a clothed, sheltered, and 

 richly ornamented park. But excepting in the article of shelter, he 

 must expect no more actual return* for his money, than if he bought a 



* There is another species of "actual return," besides shelter, which does notseem 

 to have occurred to the committee, and that ip, the surprising augmentation of the value 

 rfthe pasture, to a considerable c;(tent, proceeding fr<;ni the ninntiringand pulverisiiis 

 b( the soil round the trees, at the time of planliiig.— See Note II. at page 402. anle/t. 



