138 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



being a beautiful river ; it is a silent and sluggish stream, but 

 what beauty it has, it owes greatly to the alder, which every- 

 where fringes its meadows, and in many places forms very 

 pleasing scenes. It is always associated in out minds with 

 river scenery, both of that tranquil description most frequently 

 to be met with in the vales of England, and with that wilder 

 and more stirring cast which is to be found amidst the deep 

 glens and ravines of Scotland ; and nowhere is this tree found 

 in greater perfection than on the wild banks of the river Find- 

 horn, and its tributary streams, where scenery of the most ro- 

 mantic description everywhere prevails."* 



It may therefore, although the beauty of the alder is of an 

 inferior description, be worth occasional introduction into 

 landscapes where there is much water planted round, or low 

 running streams to cover with foliage. In these damp places, 

 like the willow, it grows very well from truncheons or large 

 limbs stuck in the ground, which take root and become trees 

 speedily. There are two principal varieties, the common 

 alder, [A. glutinosa,) and the cut-leaved alder, {A. glutinosa 

 laciniata.) The latter is much the handsomest tree, and is 

 also the rarest in our nurseries. 



The Maple Tree. Acer. 



Nat. Ord. Aceracese. Lin. Syst. Polygamia, Monoecia. 



The great esteem in which the maples are held in the mid- 

 dle states, as ornamental trees, although they are by no means 

 uncommon in every piece of woods of any extent, is a high 

 proof of their superior merits for such purposes. These con- 

 sist in the rapidity of their growth, the beauty of their form, 

 the fine verdure of their foliage, and in some sorts, the ele- 



" Lander's Gilpin, 1. p. 136. 



