We do not in general sufficiently appreciate the value of homely objects among the scenes of Nature,—­which are, indeed, the ground-work of all charming scenery, and set off to advantage the beauty of more comely things.  They prepare us, by increasing our susceptibility, to feel more keenly the force of beauty in other objects.  They give rest and relief to the eye, after it has experienced the stimulating effects of beautiful forms and colors, which would soon pall upon the sense; and they are interesting to the imagination, by leaving it free to dress the scene with the wreaths of fancy.

It is from these reflections that I have been led to prize many a homely tree as possessing a high value, by exalting the impressions of beauty which we derive from other trees, and by relieving Nature of that monotony which would attend a scene of unexceptional beauty.  This monotony is apparent in almost all dressed grounds of considerable extent.  We soon become entirely weary of the ever-flowing lines of grace and elegance, and the harmonious blending of forms and colors introduced by art.  On the same principle we may explain the difficulty of reading with attention a whole volume on one subject, written in verse.  We are soon weary of luxuries; and when we have been strolling in grounds laid out with gaudy flower-beds, the tired eye, when we go out into the fields, rests with serene delight upon rough pastures bounded by stone walls, and hills clothed with lichens and covered with boulders.

The homely Pitch Pine serves this important purpose of relief in the landscapes of Nature.  Trees of this species are abundant in sandy levels, in company with the slender and graceful White Birch, “The Lady of the Woods,” as the poet Coleridge called it.  From these Pines proceed those delightful odors which are wafted to our windows by a mild south wind, not less perceptible in winter than in summer, and which are in a different manner as charming as a beautiful prospect.

The Juniper, or Red Cedar, known in some places as the Savin, is another homely tree that gives character to New England scenery.  It is one of the most frequent accompaniments of the bald hills near certain parts of our coast, giving them a peculiar aspect of desolation.  This tree acquires larger dimensions and a fuller and fairer shape in the Middle and Southern States.  There the Junipers are beautiful trees, having a finer verdure than they ever acquire at the North.  But the Juniper, with all its imperfections, its rugged form, and its inferior verdure, is not to be contemned; and it possesses certain qualities and features which ought to be prized hardly less than beauty.  Its sombre ferruginous green adds variety to our wood-scenery at all times, and by contrast serves to make the foliage of other trees the more brilliant and conspicuous.  In the latter part of summer, when the woods have acquired a general uniformity of verdure, the Junipers enliven the face of Nature by blending their duller tints with the fading hues of the fully ripened foliage.  Thus will an assemblage of brown and gray clouds soften and at the same time enliven the deep azure of the heavens.