138 SYLVA FL0R1FERA. 



Esq., John Aldridge, Esq., George Matcham, 

 Esq., — Knowles, Esq., — Sugden, Esq., and 

 others ; who will eventually reap as profitable 

 a harvest from these sylvan scenes, as they 

 collect from their richer valleys where Ceres 



reigns ; and we may add from Crabbe, 



» 



" Thy walks are ever pleasant; every scene 

 Is rich in beauty, lively, or serene — 

 Rich — is that varied view with woods around, 

 Seen from the seat, within the shrubbery bound." 



The Portugal laurel has hitherto been 

 planted only as an ornament to the shrub- 

 bery ; but we would strongly recommend its 

 being cultivated in the forest we have just 

 noticed, as well as in other plantations ; and 

 not for its beauty alone, but for its fruit also, 

 which is, as well as the fruit of the common 

 laurel, the favourite food of the pheasant. It 

 is desirable to draw these beautiful birds from 

 the fields of the farmer, by furnishing them 

 with food in our forests ; and it is well known 

 that birds which feed on berries have a much 

 finer flavour than those that are bred in corn- 

 lands. 



Pheasants are natives of and originally 

 came from the same spot from whence the 

 common laurel was first brought, that is from 

 the banks of the ancient river Phasis that 



