WESTERN NEW YORK HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 4il 



shingles do ? He trimmed them both up from the ground bo that a view could be 

 obtained beneath the branches, to the permanent destruction of all that was beautiful 

 and attractive in both trees. In later years, notwithstanding some attractive features 

 have been added to the grounds, the inexcusable mutilation of these noble trees is 

 snch a blemish as to detract from whatever else of value has been or may be added. 



An excuse is found, sometimes, for cutting in the branches of trees, because the 

 owners in planting them had forgotten that, 



"Art is long and time is fleeting." 



and placed them too near a building or other trees. In rare instances this sacrifice may 

 be excusable, but usually it would be better art to remove the -specimen than to sacri- 

 fice its individuality. Even the average deciduous tree that may adorn the lawn, like' 

 the Norway Maple, Scarlet Oak, the Linden or the Sycamore, if given ample space in 

 which to grow, will derive an added beauty from the privilege of throwing its branches 

 directly from the ground ; and it is the exception, as in the case of the American Elm, 

 when a lenghty naked bole adds to the beauty of the specimen. An instance here 

 occurs to me, in which delicate sprays of foliage which relieved the bareness of the 

 trunk of a magnificent Rock Elm were entirely removed at one fell swoop of the sharp- 

 ened blade of a professional pruner, accomplishing for the tree what a barber would 

 for a man by shaving off his eyebrows. 



Instances of this kind have taught me to fight shy of the men who from long experi- 

 ence in the "old country, " know just how to make fine models of your trees. Years 

 ago, in the establishment of the Agricultural College of Michigan upon the site selected, 

 there were scattered Oaks of various species. White Woods and Elms. One of the 

 first improvements made to the grounds was to saw off the tops of all these trees. 

 The first time I visited the grounds, a mere lad, in thesame carriage with Dr. Wayland 

 and Prof. Olney, I was greatly struck by the diverse opinions of the two men, with 

 reference to the future of the institution, the former advocating a bright promise of 

 great usefulness in the development of the agriculture of the state, the latter question- 

 ing seriously if there was really any call for that kind of a thing. 



The argument was A^axing warm, and as we approached the grounds, the decapitated 

 tress, in all the ugliness of their shorn beautj-, hove in sight, and Prof. Olney remarked 

 with scathing irony ; " Lo ! behold the triumph of agricultural art ! If this is the 

 beginning, what may we not predict for the end ; " and Dr. Wayland's only way out of 

 it lay in the incident of a self-opening gate throwing out its wings before us with no 

 apparent motive except to bid us welcome, and he remarked ; "the triumph of mechan- 

 ics is demonstrated, at any rate. " 



A generation has passed since the spoliation of those magnificent trees that had 

 occupied the attention of Nature so long in the perfecting of their grand and noble 

 forms. The work of decay thus invited, secured their humiliation, and one by one, 

 they have dropped out and there is scarcely a remnant left of what ought to have been 

 the characteristic feature of the campus. Illustrations of abuses like this will occur 

 to you all. 



The spirit of better roads is in the air, A perfect road-bed is greatly to be desired, 

 but once securing this, it is just as important to render the highway on either side 

 attractive to the traveler and pedestrian. Two things people seem to know about this 

 subject ; and judging from manifestations, these two things are known to the exclu- 

 sion of every thing else that is valuable : First, that the natural growth that may 

 have adorned the highway must all be removed ; and Second, in its place must be 

 planted at exact intervals, trees in right lines, of every shape and uniform contour. 

 To accomplish this and to maintain the balance of root and top, and inasmuch, as 

 most of the root has been removed, the part above ground of the newly planted tree is 

 reduced to a truncated stick. 



Against this method of highway adornment I wish to enter my emphatic protest. 

 It is often true that through the removal of the road fence in accordance with the 

 spirit of these later times, the very elements of the most perfect embellishment of the 

 road side are to be found in the growth that has been protected by the fence. Let me 

 cite an example. Along the eastern border of my farm originally there was no high- 

 way. It was a line fence between neighbors, and because it was on the line and 

 erected in the early days of pioneer farming, when the matter of greatest import was 

 to secure enough from the soil to make both ends meet, the native growth of tree and 

 shrub and vine was given the utmost license. It transpired in the course of a gener- 

 ation that a highway was laid upon this line. The fence, once removed, revealed the 

 line of sylven growth with artistic natural groupings rarely seen anywhere. The 

 shrubs and vines and wild beautiful things that grew at the base of the trees were 

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