You must remember that, although it very rarely rains as heavily in England as in India, and there are no Monsoons, yet there is rarely a season of so much as a few weeks in which it does not rain a little. England is, therefore, a moist land on the whole. It must once have been clothed with forest and marsh almost from end to end; now, however, there are left only small patches of woodland, and no marshes at all. Here is a typical scene in a pine wood in a sandy district not far from London. Most of the woods are round the parks or pleasure grounds of rich men. These parks are among the most beautiful spots in England. You will remember that in the last lecture we saw how that the public parks of London were perhaps the most beautiful and characteristic things in the metropolis. If you were to look down from almost any high hill upon a cultivated English landscape with fields and hedges, you would probably notice two or three large green spaces--larger than a good many fields put together. These would arrest your attention because of their lack of hedges and because of the trees scattered about them. Round their borders you would see several plantations or patches of woodland. In the centre of each would be the mansion of a rich man. The people of the neighbourhood are generally allowed to go freely through these parks, and to use them as playgrounds except, of course, close to the house. Here we have a scene in Knole Park. One of the most remarkable points about the parks of England is the fact that since there is no undergrowth, and since the trees are felled and thinned out, each tree grows to perfection, spreading out to its proper shape in a way that we rarely see when trees are crowded together in a forest. Some of these park trees grow to a magnificent size, and to a great age. Here is one in Cassiobury Park, known as “The Monarch.” [Sidenote: 16. A Garden.] Immediately round the park-house of the great man you will find a garden--a garden that is kept, every yard of it, with the greatest care. The grass is beautifully green, and is cut short, so that it becomes a natural carpet. The hedges are pruned, and grow so thick that they become living walls through which you cannot see. To these gardens are brought trees and plants from all parts of the world. There are even tropical plants, but these must of course be grown under cover of glass, which lets in the sun’s light and heat but keeps out the cold. You remember the giant glass house of London, which was spoken of in the last lecture as the Crystal Palace. In the garden before us we see a tree known as the Araucaria, which is brought from the cooler parts of South America, and will grow in the gardens of England without glass shelter. Palms, however, will not grow in England in the open air, though they are often exposed in the gardens as special treasures during the summer.