250 Remarks on the Art of 



fully tremulous foliage, almost resembling life ; their attract- 

 iveness to the singing birds, who build in their branches more 

 than in any other tree, — all combine to recommend these 

 trees to the horticulturist and the lover of nature. Unfortu- 

 nately, they are liable to be blasted by the winter, and are 

 seldom wholly covered with living branches.* 



It is easy to observe, on taking a casual survey of the most 

 cultivated portion of our landscape, that, while great expense 

 has been lavished upon gravelled walks and boxen borders, 

 upon fences and other architectural ornaments, very little re- 

 gard has been paid to the general features of one's estate. Our 

 New England prospects exhibit a great deal of that beauty 

 which is derived from the expression of plenty and good hus- 

 bandry, of order, neatness and thrift. These are indeed the 

 most desirable objects to be attained ; but our landscape is 

 unnecessarily deficient in that sort of arrangement of wood, 

 gardens and shrubbery, that harmonious blending of the 

 wild and the cultivated, which constitutes picturesque beauty, 

 and which is so delightful to the eye of a painter. The transi- 

 tions, from the cultivated tracts to the wild wood and pasture, 

 are too abrupt. There is irregularity enough to please any lover 

 of the grotesque, but almost every scene in which improve- 

 ment has been attempted, is defective in harmony. Had the 

 same expense which has been lavished on certain formal and 

 inexpressive ornaments, been judiciously used for improving 

 the general features of the landscape, the face of the country 

 would now wear a very different, and a far more beautiful ap- 

 pearance. This is the kind of ornament which ought to be 

 the particular study of the artist in landscape gardening. 



In our labors to improve the aspect of the country, the fol- 

 lowing points are worthy of consideration : — 



First; the improvement of our roadsides, by making the 

 streets of ample width, and by judiciously planting them 

 with trees for purposes of ornament and shade. 



Second; the felling of the forests and replanting the naked 

 portions of the country in such a manner as to cover the 



*The Black Iialian aspen is a fine substitule for this old tree, and its spiry lop forms a 

 fine relief to masses of round-headed trees. — Ed. 



