THE GENERAL PLAN OR THEORY OF THE PLACE AA 
few really useful qualities. It may be used to some advantage in 
windbreaks for peach orchards and other short-lived plantations; 
but after a few years a screen of Lombardies begins to fail, and 
the habit of suckering from the root adds to its undesirable fea- 
tures. For shade it has little merit, and for timber none. 
Persons like it because it is striking, and this, in an artistic 
sense, is its gravest fault. It is unlike anything else in our land- 
scape, and does not fit into ourscenery well. A row of Lom- 
bardies along a roadside is like a row of exclamation points! 
But the Lombardy can often be used to good effect as one 
factor in a group of trees, where its spire-like shape, towering 
above the surrounding foliage, may lend a spirited charm to 
the landscape. It combines well in such groups if it stands in 
visual nearness to chimneys or other tall formal objects. Then 
it gives a sort of architectural finish and spirit to a group; but 
the effect is generally lessened, if not altogether spoiled, in small 
places, if more than one Lombardy isin view. One or two speci- 
mens may often be used to give vigor to heavy plantations 
about low buildings, and the effect is generally best if they are 
seen beyond or at the rear of the building. Note the use that 
the artist has made of them in the backgrounds in Figs. 12, 13, © 
and 43. 
Poplars and the like. 
Another defect in common ornamental planting, which is 
well illustrated in the use of poplars, is the desire for plants 
merely because they grow rapidly. A very rapid-growing 
tree nearly always produces cheap effects. This is well illus- 
trated in the common planting of willows and poplars about 
summer places or lake shores. Their effect is almost wholly 
one of thinness and temporariness. There is little that suggests 
strength or durability in willows and poplars, and for this reason 
they should usually be employed as minor or secondary features 
in ornamental or home grounds. When quick results are de- 
