136 



PARKS AND PLEASUEE-GEOtTNTDS . 



The comparative value of trees, as means of orna- 

 ment, is a subject which has been little studied ; or, at 

 least, it has been imperfectly expounded in books ; and 

 yet it is one of very great importance. The expression 

 of the ground outline of a wood or clump, for example, 

 may be perfect in itself, but it may be modified into 

 very different degrees of excellence by the character 

 of the trees of which it is composed. "We can con- 

 ceive two parks as nearly as possible the same in other 

 respects, still, if each is planted with trees of a dis- 

 tinct and peculiar kind, the difference of effects result- 

 ing will be so great as very much to diminish any ori- 

 ginal resemblance between them. Firs, when planted 

 by themselves, or where they prevail to the general 

 exclusion of deciduous trees, give a permanent ever- 

 green character to the park. "When the plantations 

 are occupied by the common run of trees that shed 

 their leaves, without a due admixture of the fir tribe, 

 the results will be masses of foliage during the sum- 

 mer and autumn months, and an obvious bareness and 

 meagerness in winter and spring, particularly where 

 the bodies of wood are small, or are deficient in breadth. 

 It is evident that much must be gained by a skillful 

 distribution and mixture of both classes. The same 

 remarks apply, and perhaps with increased force, to 

 groups of single trees, and to detached trees ; these 

 are very much dependent for their beauty and general 

 effect on the kind of the trees employed. 



Our present object is rather to bring the ornamental 

 character of trees before the notice of our readers, than 

 to attempt a full exposition of a subject which, in a 

 general point of view, is somewhat indefinite; and 

 which, in its particular aspects, branches out into a 



