ON WOOD AND PLANTATIONS. 
71 
into stronger light, contribute greatly to produce intricacy 
and variety, and confer an expression, which, without these 
latter qualities, might in a great measure be wanting. By 
shutting out some parts, and inclosing others, they divide 
the extent embraced by the eye into a hundred different 
landscapes, instead of one tame scene bounded by the 
horizon. 
The different seasons of the year, too, are inseparably 
connected in our minds with the effects produced by them 
on woodland scenery. Spring is joyous and enlivening to 
us, as nature then puts on her fresh livery of green, and the 
trees bud and blossom with a renewed beauty, that speaks 
with a mute and gentle eloquence to the heart. In sum- 
mer they offer us a grateful shelter under their umbrageous 
arms and leafy branches, and whisper unwritten music to 
the passing breeze. In autumn we feel a melancholy 
thoughtfulness as 
“We stand among the fallen leaves,” 
and gaze upon their dying glories. And in winter we see 
in them the silent rest of nature, and behold in their leaf- 
less spray, and seemingly dead limbs, an annual type of 
that deeper mystery — the deathless sleep of all being. 
By the judicious employment of trees in the embellishment 
of a country residence, we may effect the greatest alterations 
and improvements within the scope of Landscape Garden- 
ing. Buildings which are tame, insipid, or even mean in 
appearance, may be made interesting, and often picturesque, 
by a proper disposition of trees. Edifices, or parts of them 
that are unsightly, or which it is desirable partly or wholly 
to conceal, can readily be hidden or improved by wood ; 
and walks and roads, w hich otherwise would be but simple 
