266 ILLINOIS STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Though a slow growing tree, there is none which assumes a pleasing 

 appearance sooner, and which will give greater satisfaction, than the 

 hard maple. There is no other deciduous tree that clothes itself in 

 such fine apparel at the diameter of five inches. One or two in the 

 pasture, a clump or two in your special grounds near the house, and a 

 few, or a row even, if you choose, along the road, will never seem out 

 of place. 



There is no single tree that individualizes itself in a more character- 

 istic manner than the elm when it attains age. It is especially welcome 

 at the corners of the road, at the entrance gate, or as a roof tree. We are 

 acquainted with a very large and ancient elm of nature's planting, which 

 in middle life found itself standing in the angle where the main highway 

 divides intotwo tracks, one running down through a valley, and the other 

 skirting along the side of the hills. The travel converges and diverges 

 beneath its wide arms. It is a landmark which can be seen to the verges 

 of the hills, and if cut down would be missed. 



The oak is a hardy, independent tree, stout enough in the shoulders 

 to hold its arms out straight without splitting. The man who is so fortu- 

 nate as to have a grove of old oaks, or scattering ones, about his dwelling, 

 should be careful about cutting them away. Nothing which he can pro- 

 duce in the way of ornamentation, during his lifetime, will ever replace 

 the loss of such old settlers. 



The red, or swamp maple, as seen in the September woods of the 

 East, is like the scarlet tanager among the feathered tribes. A tree or 

 two of this species in a group of evergreens would, at the time of year 

 when it puts on its scarlet, make a remarkable feature in the landscape. 

 This tree in color is the pure red wine of autumn. Nothing in the land- 

 scape intoxicates like it. 



Nothing can exceed the grace of a thickly-set group of black willows, 

 when their plumes are swayed by the summer wind. If you have a stream 

 running through or beside your farm, plant a clump of these trees beside 

 it, if they are not already there. Even a low, moist place, if suitably 

 located, will answer for such a purpose. 



A great weeping willow is another graceful thing. It is a green 

 fountain whose waters shoot up in a central shaft and break into a thou- 

 sand sprays. I had no idea that this tree is so perfect, until I saw it in 

 the lower valley of the Delaware, near Trenton. If one cannot have a 

 fountain, this is the next thing to it. The climate of northern Illinois is 

 probably too hard for this somewhat delicate tree. 



The light-green cloud which envelops the golden willow in spring, 

 when nearly everything else is bare, makes it desirable to have one or two 

 of these trees where they can be readily seen at that season. 



Most people plant trees and shrubs almost entirely for summer effect 

 and benefit. Why not plant for autumn and winter as well ? Summer has 

 more than her share of glory. The fields of grain and forests of corn 

 make most attractive features in the Western landscape ; but we need to 

 touch up our autumns and winters. Evergreens are the winter want of 

 the prairie for shelter and beauty. 



