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plantation, is in delicacy of taste, and fertility of invention, superior to that at Esher.

Both were early essays in the modern art of gardening; and, perhaps from an eagerness to shew the effect, the trees in both were placed too near together: though they are still far short of their growth, they are run up into poles, and the groves are already past their prime; but the temptation to plant for such a purpose no longer exists, now that experience has justified the experiment. If, however, we still have not patience to wait, it is possible to secure both a present and a future effect, by fixing first on a disposition which will be beautiful when the trees are large, and then intermingling another which is agreeable while they are small. These occasional trees are hereafter to be taken away and must be removed in tio, before they become prejudicial to the others.

The consequence of variety in the disposition, is variety in the light and shade of the grove; which may be improved by the choice of the trees. Some are impenetrable to the fiercest Sun-beam; others let in hre and there a ray between the large masses of their foliage; and others, thin both of boughs and of leaves, only chequer the ground. Every decrce of light and shade, from a glare to obscurity, may be managed, partly by the number, and partly by the texture of the trees. Differences only in the manner of their growths have also corredpo.ding effects; there is a closeness under those whose branches descend low, and spread wido; a space and liberty where the arch above is high; and frequent transitions from the one to the other are very pleasing. These still are not all the varieties of which the interior of a rove is capable: trees indeed, whose branches nearly reach the ground, being each a sort of thicket, are inconsistent with an open plantation: but though some of the characteristic distinctions are thereby excluded, other varieties none minute succeed in their place; for the freedom of passage throughout brings every tree in its turn near to the eye, and subjects even differences in foliage to observation. These, slight as they may sec., are agreeable when they occur: it is true they are not regretted when wanting; but a defect of ornament is not necessarily a blemish.

XXII. It has been already observed that clumps differ only in extent from a wood, if they are close; or from a grove, if they are open: they are small woods, and shall groves, governed by the same principles as the larger, after allowances made for their dimensions. But besides the properties they may have in common with woods or with groves, they have others peculiar to themselves, which require examination.

They are either independent or relative; when independent, their beauty, as single objects, is solely to be attended to; when relative, the beauty of the individuals must be sacrificed to the effect of the whole, which is the greater consideration.

The least clump that can be, is of two trees; and the best effect they can have is, that their heads united should appear one large tree: two therefore of different species, or seven or eight of such shapes as do not easily join, can hardly be a beautiful croupe, especially if it have a tendency to a circular form. Such clups of firs, though very common

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