Vign. XXIII. — Scene on the Wandle. 



CHAPTER XII. 



MY FOREST TREES. 



" Par ses fruits, par ses fleurs, par son beau vStement, 

 L'arbre est de nos jardins le plus bel ornement : 

 Pour mieux plaire k nos yeux combien il prend des formes ! " 



Delille, Les Jardins. 



ALTHOUGH my garden does not contain extraordinary specimens 

 . of forest trees, yet in the district around us trees grow of a 

 magnitude and beauty almost unrivalled in Europe. First and 

 foremost, there are gigantic English Elms of many centuries' growth, 

 in the upper branches of which rooks delight to build, and under their 

 shade the cattle protect themselves from the mid-day sun. In the 

 adjacent grounds of Wallington House a group of noble trees adorns 

 the landscape, which I never can view without delight ; and on re- 

 turning from a tour on the Continent it is always a subject of remark 

 with me, that I have met with scarcely any trees of equal size, and 'the 

 contrast between them and the comparative pigmies I have observed 

 abroad is very striking. 



"There were elmes great and strong." — Chaucer. 

 The roots of elm-trees run near the surface for long distances, 

 and not only exhaust the soil, but send up shoots to form other 

 trees. I prevent them from encroaching upon my croquet-ground 

 and flower-borders by periodically digging a trench about three feet 

 deep, and cross-cutting every root running in an unsuitable direction. 



