[To TIM EDITOR Or THE . 13PROTATOR.".1 SIR, — If the "aesthetic point
of view" mentioned by "A. G. B." in the Spectator of March 6th is to enter into the discussion of afforestation, it must be remembered that the trees, even including pines, haye their own devotees who can find much to say for themselves. The writer knows two neighbouring hills of similar form and height, one clothed with the turf, bracken, and gorse so praised—and rightly—by your corre- spondent, the other covered by a wood of mingled larch and Scots pine. There can be no question that in charm and varied beauty the year through the tree-clad hill is at least the equal of the other. In winter is revealed the delicate tracery of the larch, surely unmatched for com- bined lightness and strength. In spring its tender green is enhanced by contrast with, its darker neighbour, while even the gorse must yield in splendour to the gold of the larch anti the glow of the red pine boles in an autumn sunset. The cursory traveller may talk of the "deadly monotony of pine- woods," but that is never the feeling of those who know them best. Ruskin has pointed out in a well-known passage in " Modern Painters" that while "the Swiss have certainly no feelings respecting their mountains correspondent to ours," one "character of the scene appears to have been impressive to the inhabitants It was not from their lakes, nor their cliffs, nor their glaciers—though these were all peculiarly their possession—that the three venerable cantons or States received their names. They were not called the States of the Rock, nor the States of the Lake, but the States of the Forest.
And one of the three has, for its own, none but the sweet childish name of 'Under the Woods.' "—I am, Sir, &o„
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