Art Out-of-Doors 
gardens, they should likewise be used where 
accentuation is wanted ; and this means, of 
course, but sparingly and in carefully 
chosen spots. No one should set a Lom- 
bardy poplar by itself on an open lawn, as he 
might set a maple or a beech ; or plant it 
in groups, five or six Lombardies all by 
themselves ; or use it as an avenue-tree in a 
naturalistic scheme ; or sprinkle it about at 
random in a thick plantation, a dozen Lom- 
bardies to send their peaks up here and 
there, inconsequently, above the graceful 
sky-line of their tuftier neighbors. But one 
or two Lombardy poplars, carefully set in a 
thick plantation just where their spires are 
needed to relieve its general softness and to 
break the sky-line with a touch of asperity 
and decision — these may be as effective, as 
beautiful, as one or two real spires spring- 
ing up through a mass of village trees. On 
the border of the lake in Central Park, 
near its western end, there are two or three 
old poplars standing on a little promontory ; 
and it is a great pity that they are old, for 
each new point of view newly impresses us 
with their inestimable value on just this spot. 
27 6 
