418. Artificial plantations, for the purposes of utility, are not common in Denmark; because in such a long narrow country, possessing so many seaports, the supplies from Norway by sea are sufficiently abundant for every purpose of construction. The native trees of Denmark are the same as those of Britain; but many of the exotics which endure our winters require protection in Denmark. The native trees which thrive most luxuriantly are, the spruce fir, the Scotch pine, the poplar, the birch, the beech, and the oak. The poplar thrives luxuriantly in Denmark. There is a tree of the white poplar in the south of Zealand, near the school of Herlussholm, upwards of 100 feet high, with a trunk twenty-two feet in circumference. It is of great age, is very majestic, and was in full vigour, without a decayed branch, in 1826. Hawthorn hedges are common in Holstein, and in the immediate vicinity of the towns throughout Zealand. It has been remarked that the box tree thrives exceedingly in Denmark, as well as in Sweden; but rhododendrons, azaleas, and other American plants, are killed if not protected from the frost. In many seasons the laurustinus and common laurel are killed down to the ground, even though protected by mats. The difficulties which attend laying out grounds under these circumstances will be understood by every one who knows any thing of landscape-gardening; as it is evident that, however carefully a place may be planted, and however well it may look in summer, it must have a bare and desolate appearance in winter.
