Improving the Aspect of the Country. 249 



a portion of our happiness is derived, would be repressed ; and 

 in proportion as the study of nature serves to elevate the mind, 

 must this deprivation serve to degrade it, and to leave the 

 young to cultivate a taste for low pleasures. 



Though it ought not to be expected that every man can 

 afford time and money to make expensive decorations of his 

 grounds, every land owner, from him who owns a rood to 

 him who owns a square mile of territory, may learn to make 

 such improvements as would increase the beauty of the land- 

 scape, without any extravagant outlay. And how soon would 

 the general aspect of the country be improved, were every 

 man, when he cut down or planted a tree, or made a path 

 through a field or a wood, to be governed in his operations 

 by correct principles of taste ! 



The principal ornaments of the face of nature are trees and 

 shrubbery. The art of arranging these in such a manner as 

 to produce the best effect to the eye, and to answer the best 

 purposes of shade and protection from the cold, is an impor- 

 tant study for the whole people. It was not until within a 

 few years that public attention has been forcibly directed to 

 the planting of trees. The prim rows of Lombardy poplars 

 that announced the avenue to the country-seat or the farm- 

 house, are the principal result of the labors of our ancestors 

 in this department of taste and industry. Every old village 

 can exhibit a few magnificent elms ; but these are compara- 

 tively scarce. The forests were so abundant, on all sides, a 

 century ago, that there was but little necessity of planting 

 trees. When they were to be planted, the inhabitants se- 

 lected such kinds as should form a contrast to the general 

 appearance of the forests, and pleasantly remind them of cul- 

 tivation. These considerations may assist us in accounting 

 for the former introduction of the Lombardy j)oplar over such 

 an extensive portion of our land. These trees are not deserv- 

 ing of our contempt. If they were sufficiently hardy to en- 

 dure our winters, I know of no other species that would com- 

 pare with them for shade-trees, in some of the narrow streets 

 and lanes of our villages. The fragrance of their blossoms, 

 when coming forth in the spring ; their thick and delight- 



VOL, XIX. NO. VI. 32 



