THE embellishment of ground may be very properly considered under two heads, one of which relates to its money value, and the other to its beauty and enjoyment; and as, in the progress of taste in all matters belonging to country life, the beautiful has necessarily become an essential part of the value of real property, it would appear to be good policy to do something that shall enhance the prospective value of lands seeking a market.

Landed property remote from large cities and villages seldom acquires a fancy value; yet we know that its attractiveness or chances of sale are increased many fold if fine trees and shrubbery have been judiciously preserved or planted, and home surroundings and comforts been cared for. The argument used among some of the practical cultivators of the soil, that the land is of more value for other purposes, is about the most frivolous that could have been suggested, as there is more money in an ornamental tree at any period of its existence, than there is in the most remunerating farm crop that could be grown on the ground it would occupy, and the proper labor attendant on one is not more than required by the other.

It is only necessary to compare the handsomely-wooded accessories of the farm house or country residence with the bare, unsheltered dwelling, exposed to wintry blasts and summer suns, to note the difference; a difference for which neither economy nor utility can afford a reason.

The greatest charms of landscape beauty are wholly dependent on trees and shrubbery; without them fine moulded surfaces and highly finished roadways become tiresome. The variety of form and color, the division of ground and vistas, the ability to conceal defects and develop beauties, are all due to the attractive and variable qualities of wood.

With the constantly increasing love of rural life, and the universal good taste that characterizes those who seek it for the health and enjoyment it affords, it would seem like presuming upon a good deal of patience and a want of appreciation, to offer for sale for a home, land that is barren of trees; yet we know that real estate, destitute of all the available values that handsome wood attaches to it, is held year after year at the same price as that which possesses the needful attraction. The sale of a single piece of property at a good price, has heretofore had the result of bringing up the values of all in the neighborhood to about the same figures, without considering that they are actually destitute of the primary wants of a tasteful purchaser; and it is only when such property has been in market for years, that the discovery is made that high prices are not entirely dependent upon convenient and rapid access to town.

The retired merchant or business man, who seeks repose in a country home and its attendant pleasures, naturally prefers to purchase property not wholly destitute of wood, as, no matter how many examples may be quoted, it is no easy matter to convince one advanced in life that he may hope to plant fine trees, witness their development, and enjoy their beauty and protection. However much one might wish to accomplish this, it is nevertheless a true and judicious policy to pay an over liberal price for that which either nature or art has to some extent shaped and clothed to one's liking. It is an undertaking of considerable importance to one past middle life, to start and construct a fine country seat from the treeless farm; it is productive of too much hard work and annoyance to be sought after; and to those who know, it is actually a matter of economy to pay a round price for a place that has at least advanced into the first period of its existence. We speak now of that class of improvements which are to a very great extent dependent on time to develop their beauties.

The construction of buildings and roads, the necessary graduation of ground, etc., can be easily accomplished in a year or two; but to successfully embellish a place with wood must necessarily be a work of time; one, however, quite proper and agreeable to those who do not undertake it when on the down-hill side of life. Planting for immediate effect in this climate, must be at the expense of future effect; removal of large trees is an uncertain matter, except by the most skillful hands; and even then it requires time to wear off those indications which to an experienced eye tells the story of their removal.

Within the railroad influence of large cities, accessible by the business class, fine and attractive sites command a liberal price; yet there must be a strong inducement in the way of location, views, etc, to work off a naked site at the ruling rates. It is a fact that a moderate amount of desirable wood characterizes those first taken. To any one who is credulous regarding the value of ornamental trees, and the rate of interest they pay, let him advise with the owner of a naked but otherwise desirable location, that has been on the market for a series of years, and he will get an admission of value that perhaps will startle him. "A couple of hundred dollars judiciously expended, ten years ago, in ornamental | trees, would have enabled me to sell this place readily, and at a price that would have covered more than a hundred fold the cost, labor, and interest on them." For it must always be considered that attractiveness is essential to a purchaser willing to pay a fancy price; you must catch his eye.

This is thoroughly understood in every other business, particularly so by every merchant and manufacturer, and its application to real property is of even more value.

Ornamental planting in its early stages, if properly managed, is not an expensive matter, and may be looked upon as an investment that will pay as good a rate of interest as money securely put out in any other form. We might almost say that it will pay a fair interest upon the reasonable value of the whole property, and in many instances we might name this would be no extravagant asser-tion.

There can not be devised in this appreciative age a more certain form of making real estate desirable, than by beautifying it with ornamental wood. Properly managed, the moment the planting is finished, a value has been added to it that many times exceeds the cost of the trees and labor; and as each succeeding year adds to their size and beauty, there is a fund accumulating that fully compensates for any anxiety or anticipated loss, when obliged to hold property over periods of depreciation.

If those who hold real estate for a market would take into consideration these facts, they would find them productive of valuable practical results. The purchase and planting of small trees is not an expensive matter, and our numerous and well-known nurseries afford the greatest choice at prices less than they could be taken from their native localities. Indeed, a gentleman who is an acknowledged authority on all matters relating to landscape art, has stated that he can import evergreens from England at less cost than he can obtain them from the neighboring hills, when the time spent in selecting specimens, the labor of their removal, and the chances that they will live and do well, are taken into consideration.