ANNUAL MEETING. 107 



The semi-god yEneas, in liis w;iiidering, seeking his distant lionio on the 

 vine-clad banks of the Tiber, was shipwrecked and landed on a strange coast. 

 Foodless, he wandered inland and saw moving into a valley a herd of deer, 

 apparently mavslialcd by some bearing lofty heads and branching antlers. 

 A long line of others stretched behind these into the dark sliadows of a 

 densely leaved forest. The horticnlturists of Michigan have noble men in the 

 van delighting themselves with the lawns, the gardens, orchards, and vine- 

 yards, all beautifnl to behold, and very profitable to their owners, while the 

 main column is scattered far to the rear among prdfitless orchards and dolor- 

 ous vineyards, tentative efforts of the owners to rise among "fruit men," 

 until it is lost in thickets of wild apple briar bushes, and fallows overrun with 

 the tangling dewberry. I long for the time, which however I do not expect to 

 see, when at the command, "left front into line," the whole force thoroughly 

 informed, will take the position ordered, each man as completely equipped as 

 his fellow. For with such an army, our next best friend, the forest tree, will 

 be safely delivered from its ruthless enemies. 



As to ornamental forestry, I must say it is so exclusively a matter of taste in 

 the individual, that I am loth to express my own views, lest all the ladies and 

 gentlemen present shall say I am wanting in tluit they each possess in a very 

 high degree. But assuming that all animals, from the mysterious behemoth 

 that "the lotus leaves covered with their shade and the willows of the brook 

 twined about," down to the highly cultured horticulturist, who loveth to sit 

 beneath his vine and peach tree, delight in the protection of trees from sun 

 and wind, I will venture to repeat the truism "that it is indeed practicable to 

 so dispose trees about the home and fields as to secure the benefit of their 

 shelter and display their natural beauty." The location has much to do with 

 the arrangement. There are beautiful lawns slightly shaded ; there are still 

 more beautiful densely shaded rolling grounds, water-sides, hill-sides, and 

 mountain slopes — all are beautiful when covered with trees, even when in 

 dense masses. A bald hill is no more beautiful than a bald horticulturist. 

 Then the disposition of trees, — long lanes bordered with them. Weary and 

 crotchety people insist that the trees keep the road damp and give them rheu- 

 matism. Groves set out like chess-boards are so many lanes, and even the 

 regular line of orcharding may be broken up with gain in beauty and no 

 appreciable loss in utility. The natural disposition of trees in the forest is 

 rarely imitated in art, but when done the beauty gained is only rivaled by 

 nature's own planting. In all cases the varieties in the main must be pre- 

 served. Only healthy trees, — those that hold their health summer and win- 

 ter, — are beautiful. Foreign varieties are curious to the eye, and perhaps 

 beautiful if healthy, otherwise they do not harmonize with the place. A for- 

 eigner away from friends and out of health is an object of pity, not of beauty. 

 J^ature, rather than art, gives beautiful forms to trees as well as to other of 

 her creations. Those varieties that submit to marvelous trimming into shapes 

 ii]describable, show they are the subjects of very ingenious masters to the loss 

 of their natural beauty. All the lines of beauty are in nature. A regard for 

 variety ni foliage should be had. The hues of trees are as much the joy of 

 autumn as flowers are of spring. A grove wliolly of maple, a line entirely of 

 elms, a large body of oaks, produce an irritable sameness that can without loss 

 in value be broken up. Parks are beautiful wlien they are enjoyed and peo- 

 ple can walk in them ; but a grave-yard care of parks robs them of their 

 beauty. No one would tread on graves, — if he would he should be warned, 

 perhaps fenced off; so with a garden or flower-bed. But the shade of a tree 



