8*2 
ON FORMING AND TREATING HOME PLANTATIONS. 
perspiration and digestion, they must be so placed as to be fully exposed to the action of 
solar light; and this object can only be attained by commencing to thin early, and 
continuing to do so progressively. While, in the interior of a wood, it will be proper to 
give every tree an equal share of light and air, those circumstances which contribute to 
give beauty to its outline must not be lost sight of by the forester who would make the 
most of his profession and the trust confided to him. Beautiful groups are formed by 
three or four trees in juxtaposition, by Oaks and Thorns, and by groups of various sizes of 
the latter. We would lay great stress upon attention to this subject, for want of 
which that which might be rendered perfectly picturesque, is too frequently harsh and 
monotonous. 
It is hoped that these remarks may be the means of causing some reflection on the 
subject, which may lead to better and more philosophical practice. The present age is 
characterised by increased and increasing good taste. It is not now thought sufficient that 
those things which we employ in our daily requirements should be only useful ; but refined 
civilisation demands that they must be artistically and beautifully designed, and emblema- 
tically embellished. May arboriculture keep pace with our other improvements ; and while 
we have societies for the improvement of farming and gardening, may the art of cultivating 
and giving effect to wood emerge from its obscurity, and take rank with these improved 
pursuits ! 
ON FORMING AND TREATING HOME PLANTATIONS. 
By Mr. Kemp , Birkenhead Parle . 
Nothing can be more unsatisfactory to a person of taste, in travelling through almost any 
part of our country, than the manner in which plantations in immediate connexion with 
the mansions and parks of the wealthy are arranged and treated. Long narrow strips, of 
nearly regular outline, or large lumpish masses, wanting all kind of connexion, might be 
the stereotyped descriptions of the planting on a large majority of our gentlemen’s estates. 
Much of that striking beauty which results from the soft transition of lines into each other, 
the intermixture of light and shade, the liberal introduction of more or less distant 
prospects, and that general intricacy of arrangement which not merely conduces to constant 
variety and interest, but to far greater apparent extent, is thus commonly sacrificed. 
It may be worth while, then, to point out, with a view not only to the improvement of 
particular estates, but to the increased attractiveness of the country’s general aspect, what 
are some of the objectionable modes of disposing plantations, and how they may be so 
treated as to make them objects of the greatest interest in themselves, and highly 
contributive to the general effect of a landscape. 
One of the most important questions in the treatment of all plantations of an 
ornamental character, is their outlines. It is almost impossible for any plantation to 
produce its full and characteristic effect, unless its form bear some decided agreement with 
the shape of the ground, and the position in which it is placed with respect to other 
objects. A long plantation, for example, traversing a highly undulated surface, and 
filling up the hollows with a growth uniform in height and character to that which clothes 
the hills, would be manifestly destructive of the most beautiful feature in the landscape. 
Whereas, if the hills or swells only were planted, the trees extending irregularly down the 
slopes ; and, where really necessary for any purpose, the hollows being planted merely with 
bushes or plants of a lower growth, and these scattered about in broken groups, the 
undulation would still be preserved, and even heightened. 
If, again, a line of plantation, on a comparatively level surface, were continued so as to 
exclude interesting scenes or objects from the house, or most prominent points of view, 
this would be clearly erroneous ; and the removal of such parts of it as would introduce 
effectively the more beautiful features it conceals, would serve as much to produce variety 
