382 RELATIONS OF TREES TO ORNAMENT. 



and that fitness and propriety wMch are everywhere con- 

 spicuous, combined with an evident regardlessness of dis- 

 play, mark the genuine farm and the intelligent hushand- 

 man. 



My neighbor has a superior understanding, of the laws 

 of nature. He has studied aU the complicated relations 

 of things in Nature's economy ; he sees how her benevo- 

 lent designs may be carried out for our own benefit, and 

 how, on the other hand, they may be thwarted by cer- 

 tain simple operations, not imagined by others to be of 

 any importance. There is a wood on the northern boun- 

 dary of his farm, standing on a gravelly hill, with a grassy 

 slope below, which he has often been advised to cut for 

 timber and fuel. But appreciating the advantage of a 

 wood in this situation to protect his crops and liis build- 

 ings from the northerly winds, he believes it wiser to 

 use it as a permanent bulwark, than to fell it for its im- 

 mediate value in the market. He feels assured likewise 

 that such a barren foundation must remain ever after- 

 wards a useless space. His sense of utility has thus 

 been the cause of preserving one of the most beautiful 

 ornaments of his grounds. 



He occupies the level parts of his lands and the gentle 

 slopes for tillage ; but you cannot from any position on 

 the ground obtain a clear lookout in all directions. Your 

 prospect is interrupted by frequent growths of wood, cov- 

 ering little barren elevations, or projecting rocks that 

 extend from a quarry beneath. All these prominences 

 are covered with trees and their undergrowth, or with 

 shrubbery and coppice. His fields, you will observe, pres- 

 ent a very bushy appearance, more shaggy and rude than 

 would please the " eye of taste " ; for he allows two or 

 three feet of space on each side of his fences to be filled 

 with trees and shrubs. He has planted all vacant spaces 

 in these borders with them, if they did not come up 



