plantations 221 



of a new place should be conformed to already existing 

 growths peculiar to the region. This does not mean 

 that no trees save those that naturally grow in the 

 neighbourhood should be used. There are many other 

 trees and shrubs of kindred habit and hardiness and 

 appearance but foreign in origin that suit a particular 

 territory: in other words, the spirit and nature of the 

 scenery of the country should be made the key to 

 the harmony of the plantations. A quotation from 

 the writings of the late Charles Eliot pertaining to this 

 subject may make it more clear: 



"Within the area of the United States we have 

 many types of scenery and many climates, but in 

 designing the surroundings of dwellings, in working 

 upon the landscape, we too often take no account of 

 these facts. On the rocky coast of Maine each sum- 

 mer sees money worse than wasted in endeavouring 

 to make Newport lawns on ground which naturally 

 bears countless lichen -covered rocks, dwarf pines 

 and spruces, and thickets of sweet-fern, bayberry, 

 and wild rose. The owners of this particular type 

 of country spend thousands in destroying its natural 

 beauty with the intention of attaining to a foreign 

 beauty, which in point of fact is unattainable in any- 

 thing like perfection by reason of the shallow soil 

 and frequent droughts. I know too many of these 

 unhappy ' lawns.* Ledges too large to be buried 

 or blasted protrude here and there. They are 

 bare and bleached now, though they were once half 



