80 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



oiform ; then, as the sun strikes only on the surface, neither 

 can there be much variety of light and shade ; and as the 

 apparent colour of objects changes according to the different 

 degrees of light or shade in which they are placed, there can 

 be as little variety of tint : and lastly, as there are none of 

 those openings that excite and nourish curiosity, but the eye 

 is everywhere opposed by one uniform leafy screen, there 

 can be as little intricacy as variety." From these remarks, 

 it will be perceived, that even among round-headed trees, there 

 may be great difference in the comparative beauty of different 

 sorts ; and judging from the excellent standard here laid 

 down, it will also be seen how much, in the eye of a painter, 

 a tree with a beautifully diversified surface, as the oak, sur- 

 passes in the composition of a scene, one with a very regular 

 and compact surface and outline, as the horse-chestnut. In 

 planting large masses of wood, therefore, or even in forming 

 large groups in park scenery, round-headed tirees of the ordi- 

 nary loose and varied manner of growth, common in the ma- 

 jority of forest growth, are greatly to be preferred to all others. 

 When they cover large tracts, as several acres, they convey 

 an emotion of grandeur to the mind ; when they form vast 

 forests of thousands of acres, they produce a feeling of sub- 

 limity ; and when they stand alone, or in fine groups in the 

 cultivated demesne, they still are grand or beautiful. While 

 young, they have an elegant appearance ; when old, they 

 generally become majestic or picturesque. Other trees may 

 suit scenery, or scenes of particular and decided characters ; 

 but round-headed trees are decidedly the chief adornment of 

 general landscape. 



Spiry-topped trees, (fig. 11), are distinguished by straight 

 leading stems and horizontal branches, which are compara- 



