LAUREL. 25 



that of the Cornish cherry, which it generally 

 unites better with than the former. 



The laurel should not advance too near 

 the foreground in the shrubbery, but the 

 plants should be sufficiently numerous to give 

 a cheerful contrast in the winter months, and 

 it is well adapted to shut out the appearance 

 of disagreeable objects. 



It forms the most beautiful foreground to 

 large plantations, when planted by the hand 

 of taste ; but we condemn the mode of bor- 

 dering clumps and groups with it, which give 

 the idea of a frame to the landscape. It 

 should sometimes intermix with, and some- 

 times advance from the plantation, so as to 

 avoid the idea of a fence ; the grouping must 

 also depend on the formation of the ground, 

 and the situations where we wish to give 

 light or shade. 



Where holly abounds naturally, or is cul- 

 tivated, a mixture of laurel gives great relief; 

 and as it is a shrub of such easy propagation, 

 it ought to be found in considerable abun- 

 dance in all woodland scenes. 



At Woburn Abbey, the seat of his Grace 

 the Duke of Bedford, there is a hill covered 

 entirely with laurels, which are grown to a 

 considerable size; and in the plantations of the 



d 2 



