The Beauty of Trees 



of an artist's palette, the more numerous will 

 be the kinds of beauty which he may produce. 

 But color is the most difficult of qualities to 

 manage, the most revengeful when managed 

 wrongly ; and under the hand of ordinary 

 planters the varied material of to-day means 

 merely a greater confusion of tints, a more 

 painful degree of unrest, spottiness, and ugli- 

 ness, than would have been achieved had 

 materials from the neighboring woods been 

 alone attainable. 



Too often, especially in small grounds, 

 it seems as though the aim had been to 

 do away as far as possible with medium 

 green tones, and to set upon a carpet of 

 vivid emerald turf as many trees of strong 

 eccentric hue as could be collected. Even 

 when the general tone of the landscape is 

 pretty well preserved, and bright or varie- 

 gated trees and shrubs are used simply as 

 accents here and there, too little thought is 

 given to placing them where they will be 

 emphatic yet not disturbing, and too little 

 to the question of their beauty as distinct 

 from their mere novelty or eccentricity. 



As a rule, it is better to avoid striking col- 

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