490 ON USEFUL AND BOOK I. 



succeed: the plants ought to be gathered, well rooted, from 

 moist ground in woods, where it is frequently found creeping 

 on the surface ; or seedlings should be procured or raised, which 

 will thrive better than any other mode. When it is intended 

 that ivy should grow upon the trunks of trees exposed to cattle, 

 the plants should be obtained of considerable length from woods. 

 When planted, it should be twisted round the stem of the tree 

 and tied to it. In one season it will have an effect. Cattle 

 will not eat it ; and no fence will be requisite, unless there are 

 so few trees in the inclosure as to endanger their rubbing 

 against it. In particular situations the ivy may be used to 

 thicken hedges. — See Elder. 



18. Shrubs. — As the mind, after contemplating a whole, 

 recurs to the parts, and examines them in order to find a con- 

 tinuation of pleasure ; so after having taken a general view of 

 a place, and explored most of the compositions or remarkable 

 views, the female spectator or visitant at last amuses herself 

 chiefly with the beauty of the shrubs and flowers near the 

 house. For the truth of this remark, which to some will per- 

 haps appear rather problematical, I need only appeal to the 

 feelings of those ladies who live most of the year at their coun- 

 try seats. The weather is not always suitable for taking an ex- 

 tensive ride or drive to examine landscapes ; but few days oc- 

 cur in which an excursion is not made to the shrubbery, the 



