206 ENGLISH ESTATE FORESTRY 



outlines of the landscape or its general effect upon the 

 observer. 



Bearing the above facts in mind, therefore, an endeavour 

 will be made to see how the defects peculiar to all natural 

 types of landscape can be altered or modified to add to 

 whatever beauty and picturesqueness they already possess. 

 Take, first of all, the case of a flat open heath, down, or 

 agricultural country, where the variations in the surface of 

 the ground are too small and trivial to break the monotony 

 and dreariness of the view. Here trees have very real and 

 important duties to perform, and not the least of these is 

 their ability to block out and obstruct the view in various 

 directions, and give it a definite back-ground. Probably most 

 people have a high opinion of any view which can be called 

 extensive. To be able to see over so many miles of country 

 appears to them to justify the expression, "a fine view." 

 But in reality there is little or nothing to please the artistic 

 sense in looking over a dead level from higher ground, unless 

 that ground is sufficiently high to allow what is called a 

 " bird's-eye view " to be taken, and thus give detail as well 

 as extent to the scene. Whatever pleasure is derived from 

 a flat view is chiefly due to the presence of a rising or setting 

 sun, and the cloud banks and forms which invariably accom- 

 pany these phenomena, and at such times the character of 

 the country below is of little importance. A really fine 

 view must possess a back-ground of some kind, and this can 

 only be afforded by ground lying at equal or higher levels 

 than that on which the observer stands. Without a back- 

 ground the eye naturally ranges away to the farthest point 

 on the horizon at the first glance, and the intervening detail 

 is either overlooked, or has to be picked out bit by bit. But 

 when trees are plentiful they break the view in many 

 directions, and, by giving relief to the flat horizon in some 

 directions and blocking it out altogether in others, provide 

 an amount of variety to the view which no other objects are 

 capable of doing. The difference between a flat and treeless 

 country and one equally flat but well stocked with park and 

 hedgerow trees is well known to everyone. The one is 

 monotonous in the extreme, while the other is continually 

 presenting fresh groups, combinations, and masses of foliage 



