only, and those stuck close together, the firs were planted at various distances of ten, twelve, or more yards asunder, and that the spaces between them were filled with the lower evergreens. All these would for some years grow up together, till at length the firs would shoot above them all, and find nothing afterwards to check their growth in any direction. Suppose such at wood upon the largest scale, to be left to itself, and not a bough cut for twenty, thirty, any number of years; and that then it came into the hands of a person, who wished to give variety to this rich, but uniform mass. He might in some parts choose to have an open grove of firs only; in that case he would only have to clear away all the lower evergreens, and the firs which remained, from the free unconstrained growth of their heads, would appear as if they had been planted with that design. In other parts he might make that beautiful forest-like mixture of open grove, with thickets and loosely scattered trees; of lawns and glades of various shapes and Some dimensions, variously bounded. times he might find the ground scooped out into a deep hollow, forming a sort of amphitheatre; and there, in order to shew its general shape, and yet preserve its sequestered character, he might only make a partial clearing; when all that can give intricacy, variety, and retirement to a spot of this kind, would be ready to his hands. It may indeed be objected, and not without reason, that this evergreen underwood will have grown so close, that when thinned, the plants which are left will look bare; and bare they will look, for such must necessarily be the effect of leaving any trees too close. There are, however, several reasons why it is of less consequence in this case. The first and most material is, that the great outline of the wood formed by the highest trees, would not be affected: another is, that these lower trees being of various growths, some will have outstripped their fellows, in the same proportion as the firs outstripped them; and, consequently, their heads will have had room to spread, and form a gradation from the highest firs, to the lowest underwood. Again, many of these evergreens of lower growth succeed well under the drip of taller trees, and also (to use the figurative expression of nursery-men) love the knife: by the pruning of some, therefore, and cutting down of others, the bare parts of the tallest would in a short time be covered; and the whole of such a wood might be divided at pleasure into openings and groups, differing in form, in size, and in degrees of concealment; from skirtings of the loosest texture, to the closest and most impenetrable thickets. This method is equally good in making plantations of deciduous trees, though not in the same degree necessary as in those of firs; and though I have only mentioned ornamental plantations, yet, I believe, if thorns were always mixed with oak, beech, &c. besides their use in preventing the forest trees from being planted too close to each other, they would by no means be unprofitable. If they were taken out before they were too large to be moved easily, their use for hedges, and their ready sale for that purpose, is well known; if left longer, they are particularly useful for filling up gaps, where smaller plants would be stifled; and if they remained, they would always make excellent hedge-wood, and answer all the common purposes of underwood. For ornament, exotics of different growths might be added; among which the various species of thorns alone, would furnish a considerable list. It is not meant that the largest growths should never be planted near each other; some of the most beautiful groups are often formed by such a close junction, but not when they have all been planted at the same time, and drawn up together. A judicious improver will know when, and how to deviate from any method, however generally good. There are few operations in improvement more pleasant, than that of opening gradually a scene, where the materials are not unfit for use, but only too abundant: the case is very different where they are absolutely spoiled, as in a thick wood of firs. In that, there is no room for selection; no exercise of the judgment in arranging the groups, masses, or single trees; no power of renewing vegetation by pruning or cutting down; no hope of producing the smallest intricacy or variety. If one bare pole be removed, that behind differs from it so little, that one might exclaim with Macbeth, "Thy air "Is like the first-a third is like the former- and so they would unvariedly go on, "Tho' their line "Stretch'd out to the crack of doom." In contrasting the character of a close wood of firs only, with that of the mixed evergreen plantation which I have described, I do not think I have at all exaggerated the ugliness, and the incorrigible sameness of the one, and the variety and beauty of which the other is capable. I |