RELATIONS OF TREES TO ORNAMENT. 381 



general constitute the most picturesque and delightful 

 farm scenery on this earth ; but wherever the baldness 

 attributed to them is apparent, it has been caused by- 

 avarice and narrow views of economy, guided by an entire 

 ignorance of the value of certain important natural ob- 

 jects. The man who cuts down his trees and shrubbery 

 from places where the economy of nature requires their 

 preservation is actuated by a sense of immediate pecu- 

 niary gain, not by a rational sense of utility. The ruinous 

 operations of some of our predecessors were caused, not 

 by a want of taste, but by a want of knowledge. To 

 show the truth of my assertion that a broad and far-seeing 

 priQciple of utility is sufficient to guide our hand in order 

 to produce the most beautiful and impressive kind of 

 landscape, I will trace the operations of two of my neigh- 

 bors, one a philosophic agriculturist, the other a " man of 

 taste." I shall endeavor to make it appear that physics is 

 a far better teacher than aesthetics, if we would learn how 

 to beautify the face of nature. 



My philosophic neighbor has never studied artistic 

 eflPects in the management of his wood and ground. He 

 operates exclusively according to his ideas of utility. He 

 neither plants nor builds anything for ornament or the 

 display of art. He desires only to have a convenient 

 house and a profitable farm. For these ends he has 

 gathered about his estate trees and shrubs of all native 

 species, not designing them as ornaments, but as instru- 

 ments for accomplishing certain valuable, purposes. He 

 comprehends the full value of aU different natural objects 

 in the economy of a farm, and takes special pains for 

 their preservation ; and he considers decorative art in- 

 jurious to the simple and rustic beauty that appertains to 

 a farm. But the neat and orderly condition of all useful 

 objects, whether they are groups and rows of trees, or 

 border growths of shrubbery and little shelters for birds. 



