Book IV. 



OPERATING WITH WOOD. 



1005 



hilly scenery in diflPerent parts of the country, of much of which he has given views. With 

 respect to ground, as respects garden-scenery, almost the only writer who has treated of 

 it at length is Wheatley, whose excellent book, so frequently referred to by all succeed- 

 ing writers on gardening, ought to be in the hands of every man of taste. In the 

 chapter on ground in that work, the author concludes with a salutary caution, which 

 ought ever be taken in connection with the wisest rules ; " a caution which has more 

 than once been alluded to, must always be had in remembrance ; never to suffer general 

 considerations to interfere in extraordinary great effects, which rise superior to all 

 regulations, and perhaps owe part of their force to their deviation from them. Singu - 

 larity causes at least surprise, and surprise is allied to astonishment. These effects are 

 not, however, attached merely to objects of enormous size; they frequently are produced 

 by a greatness of style and character, within such an extent as ordinary labor may 

 modify, and the compass of a garden include. The caution, therefore, may not be useless 

 within these narrow bounds ; but nature proceeds still farther, beyond the utmost verge 

 to which art can follow, and, in scenes licentiously wild, not content with contrast, forces 

 even contradictions to unite. The grotesque, discordant shapes which are often there 

 confusedly tumbled together, might sufiiciently justify the remark. But the caprice 

 does not stop here ; to mix with such shapes a form perfectly regular, is still more extra- 

 vagant ; and yet the effect is sometimes so wonderful, that we cannot wish the extrava- 

 gance corrected. " [Obs. on Mod. Gard. p. 23.) 



Sect. II. Of operating with Wood. 



7203, Wood produces almost all the grand effects in both styles of improvement ; 

 for trees, whether in scattered forests, thickets, or groups, or in compact geome- 

 tric squares, avenues, or rows, constitute the greatest charm of every country. Trees 

 improve the most varied outlines of buildings [Jig. 688.), and without them the grounds 



of a residence {Jig' 689.) would often be nothing more than an unmeaning profusion of 

 winding roads or walks. A tree in itself is, indeed, the noblest object of inani- 

 mate nature ; combines every species of beauty, from its sublime effect as a whole, to 

 the individual beauty of its leaves ; exhibits that majestic uniformity and infinite 

 variety which constitute the essence of relative beauty; and the natural expressions 

 of individual species are as various as are their forms and magnitude, their utility 

 to man, and the situations, soils, climates, and other general and accidental circum- 

 stances of which they are indications. 



7204. The effect or expression of trees, individually and in masses, has been entered on 

 at length in the preceding book ; we shall here, therefore, confine ourselves to a few 

 general observations on the effect of planting in the geometric and modem manners. 



7205. In planting in the geometric style, the first consideration is the nature of 

 the whole or general design ; and here, as in the ground, geometric forms will still 

 prevail, and while the masses reflect forms from the house, or represent squares. 



