384 State Horticultural Society. 



their leaves are really the life of the tree, just as much as our lungs arc 

 our breathing machine. The cutting off of these small twigs and the leaf 

 surface is just as injurious to the life of the tree and to its branches as 

 the loss of part of our lungs would be to us, or as cutting off the large 

 branches of a tree is to the tree itself. 



The beauty of any tree is to have all its parts, branches, twigs and 

 leaves, and not to have a lot of bare poles for branches, with only a 

 bunch of leaves at the top. Trees need to be thickened up by encouraging 

 twig growth in the center and among the branches of the tree, and by no 

 means d'o shade trees need to be thinned out under any circumstances, 

 except to take out dead or decaying branches. Hence the cutting of 

 trees is not as injurious as thinning them out. 



The beauty of every tree is in its own individuality, which it main- 

 tains if it is not interfered with, just as we ourselves have our own in- 

 dividuality, and when you destroy that, by abuse in pruning, you destroy 

 the grandest beauty of our trees, as well as damage the tree life. ■ 



L. A. Goodman^ Kansas City. 



A BEAUTIFUL EXPOSITION RELIC. 



(By Prof. H. E. Van Deman, ex-U. S. Pomologist.) 



Editor Rural World : During my recent trip in the South it was my 

 good fortune to have opportunity to visit Audubou Park, which is within 

 the limits of the city of New Orleans, La., and w^here the Cotton Centennial 

 Exposition was held during the winter of 1884-5. It will be remembered by 

 many of the many fruit growers, especially those of the West who were 

 there and witnessed the fruit show that was held there, what a beautiful 

 building we had' to show our exhibits in and its delightful location among 

 the live oaks. Now an experiment station is on the grounds between 

 the horticultural building site and the river, but there has been no de- 

 struction or desecration of it or its surroundings. It is in a good state 

 of preservation, after nearly twenty years of time, and we know that time 

 usually works many changes. One reason of this is that it was substan- 

 tially built, and witli a view to leaving it stand as one of the permanent 

 features of the park. The same green, grassy lawn stretches abroad, 

 the moss hangs gracefully from the live oaks, swinging lightly in the 

 breeze, while the balmy air is as warm and comfortable as ever to one 

 from the stormy North. Inside, instead of rows of tables covered with 

 fruit are palm trees, vanilla "bean" plants and other climbers, giant ferns, 

 delicate flowering plants from the tropics and hundreds of other rare 



