224 Wisconsin State Horticultural Society. 



the next year. I had rather have the first four or five crops of a 

 bearing vineyard than the succeeding ten, without cutting back. 



I have been asked to say something about the home grounds, 

 and development, in their ornamentation. It will be impossible in 

 the limits of a single lecture to even go over the ground lightly. 

 Angular or spiral topped trees should not be planted when the 

 roadways and walks are in gently curved lines, as they should be. 

 If it be necessary to make an abrupt turn, plant it in such a way 

 that it may seem as little abrupt as possible, and in such a way as 

 to bring out some new object of beauty beyond. The great mis- 

 take is in planting too thick, so that in the end the place becomes 

 a ragged wilderness. Even those who plant thick, for immediate 

 effect, with a view of thinning in time, rarely accomplish their 

 object — we so hate to cut away that which is beautiful for the time 

 being. Procrastination here is not only a thief, but an absolute 

 murderer. 



The beauty of any home grounds is in its lawn. You cannot 

 have too much of it, nor have it too good. It is difficult enough, 

 at best, to keep, in our climate. If the individual have the taste 

 and time, or the means, it is labor well spent. The study it gives, 

 from time to time, in becoming familiar with the peculiarities and 

 habits of the various trees, shrubs and flowers, will not only expand 

 and broaden the mind, but lead nearer and nearer to the Supreme 

 in the contemplation of the wonderful beauty and exquisite finish 

 of God's natural objects. We will soon come to know that we 

 must not severely cut back a lilac, else it will be deprived of 

 the chief beauty that the Creator has given it. One will soon find 

 that he may not attempt to make a tree of the spirea. The lilac 

 may indeed be trained into the shape of a beautiful dwarf tree; 

 the spirea must always remain a bush, sufficiently elegant in its ■ 

 lithe, rod-like shoots, crowded as they are with pure and lovely 

 clusters of bloom. 



Mr. Chairman: I have so far been dealing with the practical. I 

 fear I have detained you too long. A few words more and I have 

 done. Let us look at the esthetics. Mahomet has said: 



" He who planteth a tree watereth the earth." 



Bryant's forest hymn breathes out: — 



" The groves were God's first temples." 



