STATE HORTICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 119 



A lady of Decatur, 111., visiting iu California, expressed a de- 

 cided preference for Illinois as a permanent residence. " But the 

 scenery,'' said a San Jose lady, ''think of the scenery!" ''Yes, 

 yes, I know," rejoined the Decatur woman, " but you know one can't 

 live on scenery." 



She was partly right, but largelv wrong. We do not thrive by 

 corn alone, but partly live by sight. We may so develop and heighten 

 the natural beauties of prairie land as to add immensely to the inno- 

 cent enjoyment of life, to modify the harshness of our climate, and 

 greatly advance the dollar value of farm and village property as 

 well. 



On the prairies we may attain the beautiful, but must mostly 

 forego the picturesque. "The gently undulating plain, covered with 

 emerald turf, partially encompassed by rolling outlines of forest 

 canopy; the expanse broken here and there by groups of round- 

 headed trees, or by single specimens whose strong trunks support 

 heads of foliage that droop to the sod;" a sheet of water whose 

 banks are carpeted with flowers, and whose half-hidden bosom re- 

 flects sky and clouds and trailing vines, — these are some of the 

 things included when we speak of a beautiful landscape. Some, 

 if not all, of the features of this picture are possible of at- 

 tainment on the farms and homesteads of Illinois. The picturesque, 

 which rec|aires sharply broken lines and strong contrasts between 

 the rugged and the gentle features of the scene, is far more rare 

 than the simply beautiful; yet even the picturesque may be reached 

 whenever we approach the bluffs of the great rivers, or even the 

 smallest creek that by the wear and wash of ages sets the prairie 

 rolling and pitching towards its winding bed. But the attempt to 

 force picturesqueness on a level lawn by the construction of mounds 

 and tin cascades and rockeries and caves, made up of brick and 

 cement, and ornamented with conch shells, — 0, it makes one 

 weary ! And like unto it is the work of the country architects, who, 

 having built a pine house as thin as a band-box, cuts embattlements 

 on the top of the bay window, which only need the muzzle of a 

 fire-cracker projecting from each embrasure to become a veritable 

 fortification. 



Though a smooth green turf is the first essential condition for 

 the homestead landscape, the selection of trees and how to place 

 them for best effect, is a moi'e difficult problem. 



A late writer says that he cannot recollect that he ever fell in 

 love with a bald-headed woman. However that may be, I cannot 

 remember that I ever fell in love with a bald-headed landscape, — 

 that is to say with a treeless one. As a fine head of hair is the phys- 

 ical glory of a woman, so trees are the chief ornament of Mother 

 Earth. But the relative size of trees when full grown, their form, — 

 whether round-head, oblong or spire-like; the color of foliage in 

 growth and in autumn, and the space they require for full develop- 



