ON WOOD AND PLANTATIONS. 
75 
of a city, a species of pleasure would result from the imita- 
tion of scenery of a more spirited, natural character, 
as the picturesque, in his grounds. His plantations are 
made in irregular groups, composed chiefly of picturesque 
trees, as the larch, &c. — his walks would lead through 
varied scenes, sometimes bordered with groups of rocks 
overrun with flowering creepers and vines ; sometimes 
vvith thickets or little copses of shrubs and flowering 
plants ; sometimes through wild and comparatively ne- 
glected portions ; the whole interspersed with open glades 
of turf. 
In the majority of instances in the United States, the 
modern style of Landscape Gardening, wherever it is ap- 
preciated, will, in practice, consist in arranging a demesne 
of from five to some hundred acres, — or rather that portion 
of it, say one half, one third, etc., devoted to lawn and 
pleasure-ground, pasture, etc. — so as to exhibit groups of 
forest and ornamental trees and shrubs, surrounding the 
dwelling of the proprietor, and extending for a greater or 
less distance, especially towards the place of entrance from 
the public highway. Near the house, good taste will dic- 
tate the assemblage of groups and masses of the rarer or 
more beautiful trees and shrubs ; commoner native forest 
trees occupying the more distant portions of the grounds.* 
* 
* Although we love planting, and avow that there are few greater pleasures 
than to see a darling tree, of one’s own placing, every year stretching wider its 
feathery head of foliage, and covering with a darker shadow the soft turf beneath 
it, still, we will not let the ardent and inexperienced hunter after a location for 
a country residence, pass without a word of advice. This is, always to make 
considerable sacrifice to get a place with some existing wood, or a few ready 
grown trees upon it ; especially near the site for the house. It is better to 
yield a little in the extent of prospect, or in the direct proximity to a certain 
