The beech-woods in Buckinghamshire derive more beauty from the unequal and varied surface of the ground, on which they are planted, than from the surface of the woods themselves; because they have generally more the appearance of copses, than of woods: and as few of the trees are suffered to arrive to great size, there is a deficiency of that venerable dignity which a grove always ought to possess. These woods are evidently considered rather as objects of profit, than of picturesque beauty; and it is a circumstance to be regretted, that pecuniary advantage and ornament are seldom strictly compatible with each other. The underwood cannot be protected from cattle, without fences, and if the fence be a live hedge, the trees lose half their beauty, while they appear confined within the unsightly boundary. To remedy this defect, the quick-fence at SHARDELOES has, in many places, been removed, and a rail placed at a little distance within the wood; but the distance is so small, that the original outline is nearly as distinct as if the fence were still visible, and the regular undulations of those lines give an artificial appearance to the whole scenery.
