476 Landscape-Gardeningt 



would appear as if executed by scale and compass. The 

 amateuz' is so far biassed by the painter's prejudice, that he 

 spurns them from his sight, because of their " unsocial shade," 

 their " aspiring sauciness," and for their " murky" tints. The 

 unprejudiced admirer of nature, however, values them because 

 they are natural, never presuming to despise agreeable forms 

 merely because they happen to be regular, knowing that 

 regularity is an attribute of nature, as distinctly, though not 

 so universally, as irregularity. 



The fact is, the forms of some of the pines are really 

 beautiful, though their general colour is not so. No one who 

 compares, in the spring months, the mild fresh verdure of 

 deciduous trees with the lurid hue of pines injudiciously placed, 

 can hesitate which to prefer : but for bold expression, for 

 giving depth and solemnity to scenes of seclusion and retire- 

 ment, and for producing allowable contrasts with the gayer 

 green of deciduous trees, they are invaluable; and, notwith- 

 standing the objections of extreme taste, every body must 

 admit that pines convey an impression of dress, and even rich- 

 ness, to every place whei'e they are seen ; and whether this 

 impression arises from the knowledge that they are the children 

 of cultivation, or from their peculiar character, does not detract 

 from their value in sylvan scenery. 



One thing, however, must be noticed relative to this tribe, 

 particularly the Scotch pine. The prevailing custom, fifty 

 years ago, of planting them in heavy clumps on the summit 

 of every eminence, has deservedly called forth severe criticism 

 on such glaring instances of bad taste. We often see places, 

 laid out about that time, dotted all over with clumps of beech 

 and Scotch firs, or large plantations where these two kinds of 

 trees are regularly intermixed, than which nothing can be 

 more unharmonious in tint and aspect. Such errors should 

 be avoided. Their natural stations should be assigned them, 

 viz. as back screens to more beautiful and delicate trees, or on 

 distant hills which bound the views. They are rarely wanted 

 in beautiful scenery, but indispensable in picturesque. The 

 irregular-growing variety of the Scotch fir, the cedar of Le- 

 banon, larch, and stone pine, are, when arrived at their full 

 age, particularly picturesque. 



Besides the natural character of trees and shrubs, as to 

 value and other properties, they have also emblematical cha- 

 racters, and, as such, are used in ornamental planting, viz. the 

 funereal cypress and yew, the weeping willow, &c. 



{To be continued,) 



