EVERGREEN BEAUTr. 77 



As age comes on, its roundj clump head becomes 

 more flat, spreading itself into a canopy, whicli 

 is a form equally becoming. And yet I doubt 

 whether any resinous tree ever attains that 

 picturesque beauty in age which we admire so 

 much in the Oak. The Oak continues long vigorous 

 in his branches, though his trunk decays ; but 

 the resinous tree, I believe, decays more equally 

 through all its parts ; and in age, oftener presents 

 the idea of vegetable decrepitude than of the stout 

 remains of a vigorous constitution. And yet in 

 many circumstances,, even in this state it may be 

 an object of picturesque notice. Thus we see in 

 the form of the Stone Pine, what beauty may 

 result from a tree with a round head and without 

 lateral branches, which require indeed a good 

 example to prove. When we look at an Ash or 

 an Elm, from which the lateral branches have 

 been stripped, as is the practice in some countries, 

 we are apt to think that no tree with a head 

 placed on a long stem can be beautiful ; yet in 

 Nature's hands (which can mould so many forms 

 of beauty) it may easily be effected. Nature her- 

 self, however, does not always follow the rules 



