OF PLEASURE GROUNDS. 



343 



ten or twelve years. The birch will be from 15 to 

 20 feet high in that time, and the laburnum and 

 mountain ash will have nearly attained their maxi- 

 mum stature. Plantations which contain trees of 

 this size are in a condition to answer almost every 

 purpose of ornament and shelter. At a period much 

 earlier than this, they will exhibit a very interest- 

 ing appearance, and if they be not far enough ad- 

 vanced to give a solemn and venerable air to the si- 

 tuation where they appear, they will at least, which 

 is^ no small matter, redeem it completely from the 

 character of being bare and shelterless. So early as 

 the sixth or seventh year, the poplars and willows 

 mil average from 10 to 14 feet in height. The la- 

 burnum will be arrayed in the spring, in all the 

 splendour of its beautiful yellow spikes of flowers, 

 and the youthful mountain ash will be adorned in 

 autumn with its bunches of coral berries. None of 

 these species may possess the imposing grandeur, 

 even when at their best, of full grown oaks, beeches, 

 sycamores, elms or chesnuts, but the contempt with 

 which some affect to speak of them as ornamental 

 trees is mere fastidiousness. The silver or white 

 poplar is a beautiful tree, whether its bark or leaves 

 be regarded. The variety called the Lombardy 

 poplar is remarkable for its tall, slender, and grace- 



