LANDSCAPE FORESTRY 221 



as indispensable in an ornamental plantation, as in a wood 

 formed for utility alone, but which it is desired to make pic- 

 turesque at the same time. It is in the matter of smaller 

 details, and in the features which are alone introduced with 

 the object of adding to the attractions of the wood, that the 

 chief difference exists between these two classes of woods. 

 Such details are of almost endless variety, and may be few 

 or many, according to the point of view from which such 

 a wood is regarded. In some cases an ordinary wood may 

 be used for the production of timber or under-wood, and 

 at the same time its picturesque or ornamental character 

 may be studied as regards mixing, grouping, thinning, etc., 

 as already pointed out. In other cases, again, especially in 

 the vicinity of the mansion house, the entire wood is re- 

 garded more or less as an ornamental feature, and what- 

 ever trees it may contain are valued and treated without 

 reference to their market value or maturity. 



Although ornamental woodlands may not form a large 

 proportion of the wooded area of an estate, there is little 

 doubt that their existence adds greatly to the attractions 

 and amenities of a country seat, provided they are managed 

 and treated with correct taste. Too often, however, the 

 sole idea of rendering them ornamental appears to be that 

 of keeping the rides neat and trimmed, and crowding up 

 every available space with the most expensive trees and 

 shrubs that can be found. We have even seen the rides 

 mown with lawn-mowers and their edges broken up and 

 raked smoothly over, and every vestige of dead leaf or twig 

 removed with scrupulous care. Such painstaking efforts 

 at excessive tidiness, however, add no more to the picturesque 

 or ornamental appearance of a wood, than would paint and 

 putty to the beauty of an old ruin, or a silk hat to the 

 picturesqueness of a beggar. The ideal that should be 

 aimed at is that of faithfully copying nature in all her 

 best and most attractive aspects, and preserving all that is 

 best worth keeping, while removing all that is tasteless 

 or incongruous. The natural herbage, weedy growth, and 

 even decaying dbris, have a certain picturesque value, which 

 can no more be spared from a picturesque woodland than 

 can the lichen and moss from an old building, and nothing 



