Discussion on Mr. Pierce's Paper. 83 



northern villages? It is their magnificent development in untrammeled 

 space that gives them their perfection of beauty and grandeur, and we will 

 not have come to New Orleans in vain if we learn the lesson that they teach. 

 We should ever bear in mind that it does not matter so much what we plant, 

 provided the tree or shrub has some intrinsic beauty, as where we plant it. 

 In some portions of the country the golden willow is a very common tree. 

 As it ordinarily grows, crowded in with other trees, it is not particularly 

 observable. Plant a slip in some moist, rich dooryard, and keep it clipped 

 back, and it can be grown for years as a large shrub, and its wonderful 

 golden beauty in the latter part of winter will attract attention from every 

 one. In Northern Ohio the swamps are filled with white dogwood or Cornus 

 sanguinea of the catalogues. Crowded and neglected, its bark covered with 

 cinnamon excrescences, it does not appear at all attractive; but remove a 

 slip of it to the lawn, give it care and room, and it speedily grows into the 

 most beautiful winter ornament I know of, its branches being a crimson 

 scarlet from November to May. It is scarcely possible for the florist or gar- 

 dener to produce a more charming effect than nature produces by setting a 

 single plant of the common yellow cowslip nestled down between the light 

 green bogs of the marshy meadow. 



Of course we can not transplant the flora of the marshes to drained and 

 finished lawns and produce exactly the same eflects, but a careful study of 

 nature's combinations is the only way to become perfect in the knowledge 

 of landscape decoration. Books may teach principles and give special de- 

 signs, but observation, and, above all, the use of common sense must be the 

 main reliance. Every principle of art is founded upon a good, sound reason, 

 and landscape gardening is not an exception If you plant an object of sum- 

 mer beauty, you can place it at the end of some long walk, or in some re- 

 tired nook, and somebody will take the trouble to go and see it; but if you 

 plant a winter ornament it must be where you can see it from your sitting- 

 room window, or from some sheltered balcony, or the chances are great that 

 it will dissipate its beauty unseen by any but the birds and rabbits. 



Keason will or should teach you that the larger will hide the less, that the 

 little tree will in time make a large one, and that loudness and profusion 

 are as great faults in the decoration of your home surroundings as in dress 

 or painting. 



This topic might be enlarged upon at length, but with the caution of the 

 Secretary in reference to lengthy papers before me I can be excused from 

 saying more than to urge each one by precept and example to push forward 

 the work of beautifying the homes of our country. They should be the 

 most beautiful in the world, as they are undoubtedly the happiest and purest. 



DISCUSSION ON MR. PIERCE's PAPER, 



Secretary Pagan — I commend this paper to many who neglect to 

 adorn their homes with beautiful trees and plants. 



