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Directiom for drawing Trees and 



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60 



ence to any description of art ; that is, not a portrait of a tree 

 with the peculiarities which it may happen to have at a particular 

 time and place, from peculiar circumstances; or a portrait taken 

 to show the beauties of any particular style of sketching, draw- 

 ing, or painting. It is not the portrait of a tree which has been 

 overtopped by another tree, been improperly pruned, a part of it 

 scorched by fire, or a part of the leaves destroyed by insects ; or 

 a portrait taken to show the picturesque eiFect of broken lights 

 and shadows, breadth of mass, deep tone of oil colours, the 

 sharpness of lines printed from copper or steel, or the softness 

 of touches printed from zinc or stone. No ; to draw a tree with 

 any of these sorts of peculiarities would be in the same taste as 

 it would be to make, as a specimen of the human being, a portrait 

 of a man mutilated or deformed by accident or disease ; or, as 

 a specimen of the human face, a portrait of one disfigured with 

 warts or pimples. This would be to portray not merely the 

 individual instead of the species, but the individual under cir- 

 cumstances which had nothing to do with his character or ex- 

 pression, whether moral or graphic, as an individual. 



It being agreed, then, that the object in drawing trees for the 

 Arboretum Britannicuyn is to give a faithful portrait of the species, 

 neglecting such circumstances as may be peculiar to the indi- 

 vidual, the next point is to determine the season of the year at 

 which the portrait is to be taken. With a view to this object, 

 trees may be divided into three kinds : those the greatest beauty 

 of which is exhibited when they are in flower or in fruit; those 

 whose greatest beauty is when they are leafing in spring, or just 

 about to lose their leaves in autumn ; and evergreens, or those 

 which are clothed with foliage throughout the year. The last 

 two should be drawn in autumn ; and those which are most 

 beautiful when they are in flower or in fruit, at the seasons when 

 the flowers or the fruit are in their greatest beauty. For exanlple, 



