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these cases, the artist must supply the shade, from his knowledge of the manner in which it is supplied by the sun when it shines.

The artist having chosen his tree, and fixed his chair at the proper distance, the next step is, to measure or estimate its height. In the case of young trees, this is easily done by a 10-ft. rod, which, added to the height of a man and the length of his arm stretched above his head, will give 18 ft.; which will cover the height of most trees of ten years' growth. In the case of old trees, the height may be ascertained by a common quadrant, by a graduated quadrant, or, which in practice, and more especially when trees are crowded together, will be found the best of all modes, by pushing up the side of the trunk a series of rods connected one with the other by small tin tubes. This, and various other modes, will be found described in Gard. Mag., vol. xi. p. 548.; and the subject will be again adverted to when treating of useful plantations, and felling timber, in Part IV. of this Encyclopædia.

The height of the tree to be drawn being measured, and supposing it to be 19 ft. 7 in., then nineteen divisions and a half of the scale are to be counted down from the top of the parallelogram, and a slight line drawn acrosɛ, as at a a, in fig. 2. An estimate is next to be made of the diameter of the space covered by the branches, and also of the extent of the branches on each side of the tree. If the branches extend nearly to an equal distance on each side of the trunk, then all that is necessary is, to make a mark in the centre of the horizontal line a a, at b, in order to indicate the centre of the trunk. If, on the other hand, the branches extend much more on one side than on the other, then the first step is, to set off the total diameter, so as to reach within equal distances of each side of the page, as at cc, in fig. 2.; and supposing the trunk to be one eighth nearer on one side than the other, then the place for its centre may be indicated at d on the base line e e.

The next step is one of some importance. The artist should go up close to the tree, examine its leaves, and make sketches of an individual leaf, and of a cluster of leaves, both to a larger scale than that to which the tree is to be drawn, and then to the same scale to which the tree is to be drawn. These sketches are merely to be considered as studies made with a view of acquiring what artists call the touch, or ultimate character of form, with which the tree is to be clothed. As all the masses of light and shade, and all the various forms which a tree clothed with its leaves presents in nature, result from the various disposition of one form of leaf; so, in a picture, all the imitations of these are formed by the repetition of one character of touch. Sometimes the leaves on the tree, and the touches in the picture, are so crowded as almost to obliterate each other; at other times in both they are more distinct, and the form of the leaf, and the character of the touch, may be more clearly recognised. In densely clothed trees, the form of the leaf, and the character of the touch, are most discernible at the extremities of the branches; in thinly clothed trees they are discernible throughout.

The young artist, however, must not suppose, from all this, that to represent a tree it is only necessary to know the form of its leaf and of its touch; neither must he suppose that, in making out the details of the tufting or subordinate masses of a tree, he is merely to repeat leaf after leaf on the contrary, having a knowledge of the forms of the leaves when examined singly, and of their clustering as exhibited on the points of the branches in the general outline of the tree when examined singly, and also of the tufting, or subordinate masses, of the tree when examined singly, he must copy from nature, almost without reference to his knowledge of these details; lest, instead of making a picture of the tree as it is in nature, he should portray only his own ideas of how a tree ought to be drawn. We repeat, that he cannot too closely copy nature, and this without reference to any rules; calling to his assistance his technical knowledge of the leaves, of the touch, and of the character of tufting, only where he feels the want of it, to assist him where the appearance of nature may be of doubtful expression. In this way a man writes on any subject, without continually thinking of grammar or syntax; but when he

comes to read over what he has written, and finds some part of it obscure, or of doubtful construction, he is obliged to have recourse to his grammatical knowledge.

One of the many difficulties we have had to contend with, in getting the drawings and engravings of trees prepared for this work, is, the tendency, both of draughtsmen and engravers, to show here and there in their portraits, and sometimes, indeed, throughout the whole portraits, the distinct shapes of the individual leaves. This is just as bad as it would be, in making a drawing of a house, to give the distinct shapes of the bricks. It is true, that the surface of a tree is composed of leaves, as a house is composed of bricks; but our knowledge of these facts is not the result of our looking at the tree or house at a distance as a whole, or as a mere mass of light, shade, and colour, but of knowledge of another kind, quite otherwise acquired. Now, if the artist would only bear constantly in mind, that he is not required to convey, in his picture of the object represented, more knowledge than what a person who knew nothing of its nature might acquire by looking at it from a distance, he could not fail to succeed. The very expression," Art," implies that the ordinary manner of conveying ideas is not to be adopted; and to show that a tree is composed of leaves, or a house built of bricks, by giving definite figures of the one or the other, is taking a license which robs art of all its charms.

It may be remarked here, that the touch of young trees is in no case so powerfully marked and characteristic in nature as that of old trees, for reasons familiar to every gardener, and which it may be well to notice here for the sake of artists. We have already said that the touch is formed by the clustering of the leaves at the extremities of the shoots. Now, as the terminating shoots of all young trees are chiefly or entirely of one year's growth, they, of course, are long, and terminate in a very few leaves, placed alternately or otherwise, round the shoot or axis, and at some distance, often an inch or more, from each other. Such leaves can never form those striking clusters which are so conspicuous in most old trees; particularly in the oak, the starry touch of which, and especially that of the Quércus pedunculata, which is very different from that of Quércus sessiliflora, is well known to every artist. The terminating shoots of old trees are generally shoots which grow only an inch or two, or, perhaps, not so much, every year; and, consequently, according to the manner in which trees grow, what is only a single leaf in the young tree of ten years' growth, is, in the spray, or terminal branches, of the old tree, a spur of several years' growth; that is, it is a spur or shoot of half an inch or more in length, protruding from the other shoot, and terminating in a cluster of leaves, perhaps half a dozen or a dozen, all radiating from the same very short axis. These radiating leaves form the touch. Any one may prove this by comparing a young oak tree with an old one. Notwithstanding the great difference between the touch of an old tree and a young tree of the same species, there is a certain distinctive character of touch even in young trees, and much more so in some species than in others; a horsechestnut, for instance, whether young or old, has a very distinct character of touch, from the large size and marked form of its leaves: so have all other trees having large leaves, and most of those having compound leaves, such as the robinias, ashes, elders, &c.

It may not be irrelevant to observe that there is as great a difference between the character of the ramification of an old tree and that of a young one, as there is between the character of their touch. There is a certain degree of sameness in the disposition of the branches of all young trees, from their tendency upwards, and perhaps still more from their being so fully clothed with leaves. Old trees, on the other hand, have generally a majority of their branches in horizontal or very oblique directions, and they are never so fully covered with leaves and spray as is the case with young trees. As a result of what we have stated, the general forms of young trees present a certain degree of sameness; while in old trees of distinct species there is generally a very

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distinctive character in the general form, in the trunk, the ramification, the tufting, and the touch. Any one may be convinced of this by observing any particular species, not of very common recurrence, in the arboretum of the Horticultural Society's garden, or in that of Messrs. Loddiges, and observing the same tree of fifty or sixty years of age, at Syon, Purser's Cross, Chiswick, Upton, or any of the places noted for old American trees in the neighbourhood of London. At the same time, while we state this, we must remark that there is still a very great difference in the general form, expression, and character, of even young trees which have been no more than ten years planted. In proof of this, we again refer to the two metropolitan arboretums, and to the engravings of entire young trees, as compared with the full-grown trees, which will be found in this work. We may particularly refer both to the living specimens and to the engravings of the smallest class of trees, such as the thorns, and other Rosacea; which, even in ten years' growth, are remarkably distinct and characteristic, and supply the landscape-gardener with admirable resources for planting small places, as will hereafter appear.

To recur to the subject of the touch, we shall here quote from the Magazine of Natural History, vol. i. p. 244., what Mr. Strutt has said on the subjec

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of the touch of the oak, and illustrate it by two engravings from his sketches. "The foliage of the oak," he says, "is particularly suited to the pencil. In those portions which are brought nearer to the sight, the form of the individual leaves (fig. 3. a, to the scale of 1 in. to a foot) may here and there be expressed, as shown in the sketch, which also exhibits what is technically called

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the touch (b, to the scale of the fourth of an inch to a foot), necessary to express its character as it recedes from the eye." As a contrast to the touch of the oak, we shall give that of Pyrus communis nivalis, a variety of wild pear, taken at random from the sketch-book of an artist, M. Lejeune, in our employment. In fig. 4., f is a single leaf, drawn to a scale of an inch to a foot; g, a cluster of leaves to the same scale; h, the same cluster of leaves to the scale of a quarter of an inch to a foot; and i, the same cluster to a scale of 1 in. to 12 ft. The last is suited for full-grown trees, and the preceding one for young trees drawn to the larger scale.

The artist having made himself acquainted with the touch of the tree, may retire to his seat and commence sketching; unless the tree should have conspicuous flowers or conspicuous fruit, as is the case with the horsechestnut if drawn when it is in flower, or with the laburnum if drawn when it is either in flower or in fruit. In examples of this kind, the artist must use the same means to acquire the touch of the flowers, or that of the fruit, as he has done to acquire the touch of the leaves.

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In proceeding to draw the entire tree, the artist will first indicate the out

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lines of the masses, in the slight but accurate manner shown in fig. 5., which is the commencement of a portrait of a young oak: he will then indicate the trunk, and its manner of rising from the ground; as whether perpendicular or inclined, and whether it tapers much or little. All the principal branches of the trees, visible through the leaves, should also be slightly indicated, as shown in the commencement of a portrait of Cérasus Pàdus, in fig. 6. This being done, the next step is to fill in the details of the leafing, the commencement of which, at the tops of the two trees, is indicated in figs. 7. and 8.; and, when this is effected for the entire trees, these two sketches only require the botanical details placed under them, to assume the appearance of the oak (Quercus pedunculata) and the bird-cherry (Cérasus Pàdus) given in their proper places in the series of plates forming our second volume.

The only point which remains to be considered is, that of drawing the botanical specimens. These, in the plates which form our second volume, are all given to one and the same scale; viz. 2 in. to a foot. They ought to be drawn by the artist in a book by themselves, and not on the same page with the portrait of the tree, for various reasons. In the first place, because these specimens require to be drawn at three different seasons: viz. when they are in flower;

when they are in fruit; and, in the case of deciduous trees, in winter, when they are in a naked state, to show the appearance of the wood at that season. In the second place, as these require to be drawn with scientific accuracy, they can only be properly done by taking the specimens home, inserting their ends in water, and drawing them with the greatest care before they begin to fade or shrivel. The specimen in flower will naturally, in most cases, be drawn first; and, because the flower is the first in the order of nature, it ought either to be put on the top of the page, or on the lefthand side of it, in order that it may come first in observing or reading. This is the reason why, in our volume of plates, we have, in the case of each young tree, always put the spring or flowering specimen on the left hand, and the autumn or fruiting specimen on the right hand. For a corresponding reason, we have shaded the entire trees on the right hand rather than the left, because the eye, being first attracted by the light parts of an object, proceeds afterwards to the shade. Where the flowers, when fully expanded, or the fruit or leaves, when fully grown, are less than an inch across, a flower, fruit, or leaf,

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of the natural size is given; and, to distinguish these full-sized specimens from such as are drawn to a scale of 2 in. to a foot, those of the full size are marked with a cross, thus +. Where a tree is of one sex, or has the sexes in different flowers on the same tree, the male flowers are marked by an m, and the female flowers by an f; and some trees, as in the case of the common ash (Fraxinus excélsior), the hermaphrodite flowers by an h. In one or two cases, it has been deemed useful to give magnified specimens of flowers or their parts; in which cases the abbreviation mag. is added to show this. Where the tree is deciduous, a specimen of the young wood, as it appears in winter, is given to the same scale of 2 in. to a foot. These requisites show that nearly a whole year is required, in order to draw properly the botanical specimens of any one tree.

In the case of full-grown trees, we have in general considered it unnecessary to give more than a sufficient portion of foliage to show the touch of the

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