DECORATIVE TREATMENT. 



251 



Sect. II. — Decorative Treatment of an Arboretum. 



In this part of our subject we return to the principal 

 object of our little work_, viz.^ the adornment of country 

 residences. It is to be presumed that there are few who 

 are willing to contemplate a living collection of trees 

 and shrubs without experiencing the pleasurable emo- 

 tions which their elegance of form and beauty of tint 

 are fitted to inspire. In such as would dispense with 

 these enjoyments^ the scientific instinct must be very 

 strong indeed. We trust that the vast majority of our 

 readers would rejoice to find a new source of pleasure in 

 an ornamental assemblage of plants. We come then to 

 consider how^ in the construction of an arboretum^ the 

 botanic interest may be modified and its scientific rigour 

 softened^ while its exactness may not be seriously im- 

 paired. 



In the arrangement of the arboretum there are certain 

 orders and alliances which include the trees of largest 

 growth ; these claim special attention for the selection 

 of their position^ as they not only require a liberal al- 

 lowance of space, but also become the principal objects 

 on account of their breadth and altitude. They are 

 mostly to be found in Alliances 3, 4, 7, 12, 13, 32, 24, 

 26. In distributing them on the ground, their groups, of 

 whatever rank they may be — i. e. whether generic, ordinal, 

 or allied — should be so managed, as not only to be in 

 requisite union with the cognate families of humbler 

 growth, but also to become the leading and most con- 

 spicuous features of the scene. Where this expedient 

 is properly employed it will add much variety to the 

 whole, and will produce a greatly superior effect to that 



