320 



THE planter's GUIDE. 



There is no part of the lawn or park which the Scotch 

 Elm is not calculated to shelter as well as to adorn — the 

 foreground, the offskip, or the third distance of the land- 

 scape. In the plain, it is always striking as a single tree ; 

 and in grouping of every sort, it harmonises with the Oak, 

 the Ash, the Beech, and others. It is hardy enough, 

 moreover, to climb the steeps of the most rugged moun- 

 tains, and to fling its luxuriant copse between the fissures 

 of the rocks, with few companions but the Oak and the 

 mountain Ash. For close woods, therefore, that are to 

 be raised at once by means of the transplanting machine, 

 whether for shelter or ornament, it is invaluable, not only 

 as a lofty tree and a free grower in standards, but for 

 underwood of the closest kind. 



The Witch Hazel, or early Elm, (which may be con- 

 sidered either as a variety or a distinct species,) probably 

 exceeds in luxuriance and hardness all the rest of the 

 Elm family. In its young shoots and leaves, it bears an 

 intimate resemblance to the Hazel. The flowers are red, 

 with long leafy impalements of a green colour, and come 

 out prematurely in the spring, before the leaves {/ilius 

 ante patrem) ; therefore, in copses it is beautiful. It was 

 of the boughs of this tough and elastic tree that the long- 

 ' bow of our hardy ancestors was often made, and which 

 they drew with such efi'ect in war, or in the chase; a 

 striking contrast to the uses to which it has since been 

 applied. 



THE BEECH. 



We now come to the fourth tree in rank and estima- 

 tion in the British forest, namely, the Beech. Some, as 

 already noticed, but most absurdly, have denied it a place 



