240 State Horticultural Society. 



What has been clone cannot be helped now but what we may do 

 by carefully guardmg our treasures, "the priceless trees," and by pre- 

 serving religiously every one of them is a matter in which we are all 

 deeply interested. There are many of these beautiful hillsides and valleys 

 and creek bottoms in and about our city, which are still worthy of our 

 attention and preservation. Trees as old as this nation, yes trees which 

 were in these valleys when the Pilgrim Fathers landed at Plymouth 

 Rock, or perhaps when the foot of the first white man stepped upon 

 this land, are of such wonderful beauty and size that we must surely 

 revere and protect them. There are elms in the Brush Creek valley 

 which measure twelve to fifteen feet in circumference and the spread 

 of the branches over one hundred feet. There are beautiful dells and 

 vales, rocky knolls and steep hillsides, high bluffs and glorious hills, 

 grand springs and lovely creeks which are still covered with the native 

 forests that are of untold value for future beauty and they must be 

 preserved. Thus says the poet concerning the old hemlock on the 

 eastern hills. 



.But I! For six hundred rolling years I have stood like a watch tower, I— 

 T have counted the slow procession of centuries circling by! 

 I have looked at the sun unblenching, I have numbered the midnight stars, 

 Nor quailed when the fiery seiijent leaped from its cloudy bars! 



Or, ere ye were a nation or your Commonwealth was born, 



I stood on this breezy hilltop, fronting the hills of morn. 



In the strength of my prime uplifting my head above meaner things, ! 



Till only the strong winds reached it, or the wild birds' sweeping wings. 



He builded his towns and cities, and his mansions fine and fair, 



And slowly his fertile meadows grew wide in the tranquil air. 



He stretched his iron pathways from the mountains to the sea. 



But little cared I for his handiwork! 'Twas the One Great God made me. 



I have but to point you to the beautiful Fairmount Park, and the 

 Wissahickon river out of Philadelphia, where you may revel in the 

 beauty of nature's forests in which has never been the ax of the wood- 

 man. Within a few miles of the capitol of our nation there are hun- 

 dreds of acres of the native woods in all of their wild beauty, and these 

 places are being preserved with a religious zeal and determination. 



How much more should we reserve and preserve some of the 

 ■grandest spots about our new city. Then there are noted trees on 

 some of these old homesteads and on some of these hills which should 

 always be cherished for their age and beauty. To awaken your en- 

 thusiasm I wish to refer you to a book of plates "Some of the Noted 

 Trees about Boston," giving the age, size and spread of branches of the 

 vonders of tree growth. 



