70 
LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 
age, it constitutes in its various forms, sizes, and develop- 
ments, the greatest charm and beauty of the earth in all 
countries. The most varied outline of surface, the finest 
combination of picturesque materials, the stateliest country 
house would be comparatively tame and spiritless, without 
the inimitable accompaniment of foliage. Let those who 
have passed their whole lives in a richly wooded country, 
— whose daily visions are deep leafy glens, forest clad hills 
and plains luxuriantly shaded, — transport themselves for a 
moment to the desert, where but a few stunted bushes raise 
their heads above the earth, or those wild steppes where 
the eye wanders in vain for some “ leafy garniture/' — where 
the sun strikes down with parching heat, or the wind 
sweeps over with unbroken fury, and they may, perhaps 
estimate, by contrast, their beauty and value. 
We are not now to enumerate the great usefulness of 
trees, — their value in the construction of our habitations, 
our navies, the various implements of labor, — in short, the 
thousand associations which they suggest as ministering to 
our daily wants ; but let us imagine the loveliest scene, the 
wildest landscape, or the most enchanting valley, despoiled 
of trees , and we shall find nature shorn of her fair propor- 
tions, and the character and expression of these favorite 
spots almost entirely destroyed. 
Wood, in its many shapes, is then one of the greatest 
sources of interest and character in Landscapes. Variety, 
which we need scarcely allude to as a fertile source of 
beauty, is created in a wonderful degree by a natural 
arrangement of trees. To a pile of buildings, or even of 
ruins, to a group of rocks or animals, they communicate 
new life and spirit by their irregular outlines, which, by 
partially concealing some portions, and throwing others 
