out and accord with the forms of certain architectural styles, it may, for aught that appears to the contrary, be fairly assumed that the use of those trees in such situations had its origin in their fitness, or supposed fitness, for the purpose; and that, though they may be peculiar to any given country in which the style of building to which they are now allied, preponderates, or has at some former period prevailed, that very style may have been founded on its adaptation to the natural characteristics of the country, trees not being among the least significant of these.

Possibly I may not be far wrong in accounting for the connexion, which has, somehow, sprung up between particular classes of trees and particular styles of buildings, by a reference to the character of the leaves rather than the distinctive lines of the branches or heads. Light, thin, and feathery leaves characterise all the plants that look best when in contact with the varied class of Grecian structures,—the heaviness (or rather massiveness) and regularity of Grecian forms demanding some such contrast and mitigation. Gothic buildings, on the other hand, already light and playful, full of variety, and abounding in small decorations, require more of the depth and breadth of foliage for which round-headed trees are conspicuous, to bring out their elegance, and impart, at the same time, a more substantial character.

Practically applying the subject, however, the very upright and the very horizontal forms of trees,—such as have spiry heads, and those of which the upper branches are nearly flat,may occupy any desired position in the neighbourhood of Grecian, Roman, or Italian houses; while shrubs of similar (but chiefly upright) habits, and such as are pruned or trained into standards, with formal heads, will suit gardens laid out in any kindred style. In addition to those which have been named, I may note the Deodar Cedar, the Araucaria imbricata, and the Hemlock Spruce, with the Cypress tribe, and especially the Irish Yew, for gardens, as deserving of particular praise. Larch, Birch, Acacias, the purple Beech, (though principally for

its colour,) the fern-leaved Beech, the Turkey Oak, and the Lime, will further be suitable for the same style of erection.

On the principle above suggested, besides the numerous species of round-headed trees, of which the Sycamore for westerly districts may be specially singled out, and the Horse Chestnut and Spanish Chestnut for more inland counties, all the broader-leaved sorts of ornamental low trees and shrubs will be preferable for the immediate vicinity of Gothic houses. Portugal Laurels, common Laurels, different kinds of Magnolia, Ivy, Hollies, the Yew for its dark sombre colour, the Arbutus, Aucuba, &c., will all be to some extent harmonious. And commoner and less exotic plants may generally be brought closer to a Gothic house without injuring its effect, than they can be to any more classical structure. The latter seems to require associating with more foreign species. And the same remarks will hold good with respect to gardens treated in either the classic or irregular style. Rarer and more unfamiliar forms are required for formal gardens. Those in the flowing or English manner will be fitly supplied with a mixture of both common and valuable varieties.

Trees can, without impropriety as to appearance, be placed nearer to a Gothic then a Grecian house. Gothic architecture is rather improved by a frame-work of trees; Grecian only just tolerates them. With either style, however, the sudden dip of the building to connect with it a low wing, or the equally abrupt rise to form a tower, may often be softened with advantage by the introduction of a good and appropriate tree in the angle, if this does not cover any window or other detail of consequence. In the same way, a suitable lower plant or shrub in a deep angle of the building, or at a very bare corner of it, will sometimes divest it of a cold and naked appearance, and adorn rather than deface it. If one corner of a building stands higher above the level of the garden than the other, as will sometimes be the case on sloping land, it will particularly require help from a good large shrub or group at the corner that rises most out of the earth, to give it the requisite balance.

TREES AS ACCOMPANIMENTS TO BUILDINGS.

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The high ends of buildings frequently demand some kind of plants to support them, and take off the hardness of their edges. No building should appear altogether naked and alone, but form a constituent part of a landscape. If the lines, therefore, be not duly carried down in the erection itself, and blended with those of the ground,-a thing which can very rarely be accomplished, the effect of connexion should be attained by accompanying trees. Where a house is placed on a knoll, mound, or other kind of elevation, some such assistance becomes all the more essential. But the trees need not in all cases approach closely to the end of the building; as enough of union of lines and balance of parts may mostly be produced by placing them at a little distance from it.

No subject, perhaps, is less studied by landscape gardeners, or occasions more alarm in the mind of an architect, than the necessity that exists for assisting the effect of houses by the felicitous introduction around them of a few trees or shrubs at the right points. Without some such help, a house might almost as well be in a town as in the country; and the most artistic combination of parts will fail to satisfy a tasteful observer, unless there blend with the building, at certain intervals, larger or smaller patches of green foliage. Even a mansion of the highest and most classical kind will not be exempted from this rule; as any one may perceive who examines the principal or entrance front of what is probably the most magnificent pile of its class in this country-Blenheim. Unquestionably, the architect has done everything to vary and enrich the elevation, which is grand and palatial to the last degree; but for want of a little daring in the treatment of the entrance-court, so as to obtain such trees and shrubs as should, without marring the design, subdue the glare of the masonry, and mingle appropriately with its outlines, the entire effect, unless from some point in the park where the Beech trees of the latter can be brought into partial connexion with the palace, is cold, harsh, and intensely unsatisfactory.

The same remark (if I may venture to comment, for a

moment longer, on so truly noble and national a production) will apply to the bridge across the lake on the approach to Blenheim. Here the happy audacity which raised such a lofty and gigantic work, and which must have braved an immense amount of probable temporary criticism as to its height and size, with the far-seeing consciousness that nothing lower could ever form such a stand-point for exhibiting the mansion, park, and lake to advantage, while nothing smaller would fitly unite with the other grand features of the place; has had no seconder in the accompaniments to the bridge, so that its outlines remain, in many respects, rude and hard as at first, while a few evergreen trees and shrubs would speedily soften away and remedy all the defects, and cause the bridge to seem, as it were, to be growing out of the banks on either side.

It may possibly be a legitimate subject of doubt whether the yet more majestic residence of our Sovereign at Windsor, picturesque and princely as it is universally acknowledged to be, and deriving so much of artistic finish from the variety in the height and form of its towers, from the expansion of its dependent parts in the direction of the town, and from the trees (out of the tops of which it appears to rise) on the precipitous slope at its northern base, would not materially gain in interest and in pictorial power, if not in dignity, by the interfusion (so to speak) of a few venerable Elms or Oaks among its tamer parts, and about its abrupter corners; although it is admitted that a structure of such breadth and magnitude, crowning a rocky steep, actually requires the aid of trees less than almost any other kind of edifice or position that can be imagined.

4. To produce strong and striking effects in a garden, there must be not merely a tolerably varied collection of plants, well mixed up together, and disposed so as to give variety and contrast, but groups of particular kinds should be planted in prominent places, that occasional broader masses of a peculiar form or colour may be obtained. From three to six or even eight specimens of some showy kinds may thus be planted in an irregular group, at any jutting point in a bed, or on some swell

of a mound, and will create a very striking impression by their foliage or flowers. They should be placed near enough to each other to grow into a thicket, without injury to any of the plants, that only one dense mass of heads, and none of the individual stems may be seen, and that the effect may be more like what one immense specimen would yield.

This system of arrangement, combining the advantages of massing plants of one sort without any of its evils, is well worthy of being more freely pursued than it is at present. A group of pink or crimson Rhododendrons of one kind, that will bloom all at once; of Berberis aquifolium, for both flowers and fruit; of the red-flowering Currant, which is all the gayer for appearing so early; of Laburnums, the English and Scotch varieties being mixed; of common Lilacs; of the Cydonia japonica, with only about three plants; of yellow or mixed Azaleas; of any.bright or dark-flowering sort of Rose; of Daphne pontica, for its form and scent; or even of common Dogwoods, which are particularly attractive in autumn, when the leaves begin to change colour, and during winter, when their blood-red branches have the effect of flowers at a distance, and are well-fitted for clothing small islands; of Tamarisk, overhanging the steep face of a mound; of Broom, in a more open part of an outside plantation; of Savin, Heath, or Cotoneaster microphylla, or Gaultheria Shallon, where a tuft of dwarf plants is wanted; and, not to multiply examples further, of any variegated, or pale green, or silvery-leaved variety that does not grow too large;-will add a novel and most inviting feature to a garden, and make it very conspicuous at particular seasons.

For the still lower tribe of plants, and even for annuals, the plan is fully as suitable. Every one is now aware what splendid displays are created by the various kinds of half-hardy plants with which gardens may be decorated in masses during summer. Some things, in fact, which would, when solitary, be almost contemptible, acquire a marked showiness if collected into a group. And many annuals, that are straggling and poor