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FLORA AND SYLVA. 



SYLVAN SHADE. 



It is admitted by many who have lived 

 under warmer skies than ours, that hot 

 weather in the British Isles is more op- 

 pressive than in countries where the 

 temperature is often much higher ; and 

 this, among other things, is a reason 

 why we should pay a little more atten- 

 tion to shaded rides and airy shade un- 

 der trees. We are not speaking now of 

 work to be planned, but of what might 

 often be done with things as they are. 

 In a large area of country in the home 

 counties many woodlands are wholly 

 without airy and picturesque access, ex- 

 cept for narrow rides closed up every 

 year with briers and underwood. In two 

 ways at least we might get very pleas- 

 ant, shady ways : first, by making rides 

 through home woods not less than 1 8 

 feet wide. I have been doing this to the 

 extent of several miles during the past 

 winter, and few labours are more inter- 

 esting than finding the lines of greatest 

 beauty and easiest grade through woods, 

 bearing in mind ease of access; clearing 

 the woods, shooting, shade and air. In 

 olden times, when underwood was valu- 

 able, people begrudged the space to 

 form airy rides, but this reason, never a 

 good one, no longer holds. Making 

 such rides in no way lessens the value 

 of the wood, because every inch of the 

 ground is occupied by the roots of the 

 adjacent trees, and timber buyers and 

 surveyors well know that the best tim- 

 ber trees often grow near such clearings. 

 In making them, if (without marring 

 their uses for the ends named) we can 

 take rides beneath good old trees or 



groves all the better, as beneath such 

 trees the undergrowth lessens, and the 

 clearance is easier. By all such rides 

 the lower boughs of the trees should be 

 removed without hesitation for the sake 

 of showing the wood and stems; and as 

 a rule such branches are without value 

 to the tree if in a real wood. Nearer 

 still to the house there is a second way 

 of getting pleasant shade and air, and 

 that is by removing without stint the 

 lower branches of trees which are often 

 a nuisance in preventing air and move- 

 ment. In the case of fine old trees, the 

 tree itself is very often trying to get rid 

 of its lower boughs, and yet we often 

 see them impeding all progress about 

 the lawns. Where there are good rides 

 through old mixed or evergreen woods 

 it is important not to let the under- 

 growth close in on each side, as it is 

 very apt to do. It is difficult to give an 

 idea of the difference in the effect of 

 such a ride when "light and shade" are 

 let into it, and when, as is commonly 

 the case, the Yew, Box, and other things 

 are clipped back to hard walls, good 

 views, fine trees, and groups being all 

 shut out by this neglect. It is better 

 never to clip in such cases, but always 

 to work back to a good tree or group, 

 and so getting room for the air to move, 

 the shade of the trees above being suf- 

 ficient in each case. The pleasure of 

 driving or walking is much greater when 

 the air is moving, and when one can see 

 here and there into the wood on each 

 side, with perhaps beautiful views into 

 the country beyond. 



