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CHAPTER IX. 



PLANTS PROPER FOR UNDERWOOD, AND THEIR 

 CULTURE. 



Underwood may be considered under three 

 views ; as it improves the beauty of a plantation ; 

 as it contributes to the increase and preservation of 

 game ; and as it may be rendered productive of pe- 

 cuniary profit. 



When a plantation has risen to a considerable 

 height, and the lower branches have been removed,, 

 either by pruning or natural decay, the trunks, ut- 

 terly devoid of any kind of foliage, have a bleak and 

 disagreeable appearance to a spectator who is either 

 within the wood or near it. This is more particu- 

 larly the case when the trees belong to any of the 

 fir tribe ; for the straight, formal manner in which 

 they grow, has a tendency to remind the beholder of 

 posts for drying linen standing on a bleaching-green^ 

 or of the pillars in the frame-work of a saw-pit, ob- 

 jects that are far from being either picturesque or 

 beautiful. 



