chap, ix.] PLEASURE GROUNDS. 317 
with pines and firs, and particularly larches, 
interspersed with a few birch-trees, planted 
in dry sandy soil on hilly ground. The 
deciduous cypress and weeping willow should 
be near water, as should the common willow, 
3 
nearly all the poplars, and the alders. In 
another place might be a thicket of the dif¬ 
ferent varieties of hawthorn, with a few of 
the fine large-fruited foreign thorns planted 
in striking situations. In short there are no 
limits to the numerous and beautiful scenes 
that might be laid out by a woman of culti¬ 
vated mind, who possessed fancy and taste, 
combined with a very slight knowledge of 
trees; and I think I may safely add, that I do 
not know a more delightful occupation than 
this kind of landscape gardening. It is land¬ 
scape painting, but on the noblest and boldest 
scale: and it is a source of constant enjoy¬ 
ment, from the daily improvement that it 
displays. What a difference it makes in the 
pleasure we have in returning home, if we 
have something to visit, that we know has 
been improving in our absence. We regard 
the trees and shrubs we have planted, and 
the scenes we have laid out with almost a 
