624 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



any rearrangement that circumstances demand. These, first of all, must 

 be in harmony with the scenes ; that is, they must form a part of those 

 scenes ; and, more, they must assist to develop them ; thus a scene which 

 is apparently too flat in its character would require to be touched with 

 erect forms. 



Suppose masses of Cedars of Lebanon, becoming too numerous, so 

 that they appear heavy, then groups or single trees of Abies nobilis syn. 

 Picea nobilis, touching up some of the promontories and high points, would 

 be required; but care must be taken not to injure the scene itself. In 

 developing the scene, by no means must the least new idea be introduced 

 to destroy its character. 



Ignorance commits more injury in touching than is generally dreamed 

 of by owners of good homelands. A homeland is developed by an artist 

 who brings out its infinite impressions ; then afterwards an agent or 

 gardener, who is a good cultivator, and has gained the confidence of his 

 employers, who consequently presumes that, as he can cultivate so well, 

 he must also know artistic development, at once commences to destroy 

 the character by contrasts, destroying the depths and heights of the 

 scenery, and actually planting specimen trees, &c, in the centre of the 

 grass-view lines, and therefore destroys the infinite views. Whereas, if 

 cultivators would attend to the growth of silent life, they would be public 

 benefactors. When they interfere with scenes that have been properly 

 developed they destroy more than they build. 



Single trees ought not to form dots, as it were, but should harmo- 

 niously unite with the scene around. Groups, indeed, should be in strict 

 unison with the outlying landscape. Masses ought to produce the effect 

 of strengthening the more precarious details ; and, generally speaking, 

 flower-beds and single plants alike must all combine to produce desirable 

 permanent results. 



Desirable combinations are not to be attained by planting trees here 

 and there, showing perhaps but a third of our shrubs, nor in the mere 

 levelling of our soil. Each subject of the scene must fulfil its part, and 

 adequately contribute to the harmony of the whole. 



