A Word for the Axe 
against possible contingencies, not only of 
life and death, but of peculiarity in devel- 
opment. A planter can hardly imagine in 
detail the group he wants, and then plant 
for that group and for nothing else. The 
best he can do is to decide upon the general 
size and character of his group ; plant in 
such a way that the probability of getting 
something near to it in effect will be in- 
sured ; and then watch his plantation and 
thin it out in accordance, on the one hand, 
with his own wishes, and, on the other 
hand, with the idiosyncrasies of his devel- 
oping trees. 
Of course, such a process as this needs 
care and thought and taste. But it is just 
this fact that I want to impress upon my 
readers — the fact that only by the exercise 
of care and thought and taste, not merely 
in the act of planting but continually after- 
ward, can beautiful results be achieved in 
any branch of gardening art. When a 
plantation has been made, then the real 
work of creating it has but just begun ; this 
work must be prolonged for many years to 
preserve the beauty of the trees as individ- 
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