138 



A PLEA FOR AMERICAN TREES. 



within the walls of palaces. Huw much do 

 we not ourselves owe to the forests as regards 

 our daily wants ! Our fields are divided by 

 wooden fences ; wooden bridges ci'oss our 

 rivers ; our village streets and highways are 

 being paved with wood ; the engines that carry 

 us on our way by land and by water, are fed 

 with wood ; the rural dwellings without and 

 within, their walls, their floors, stairways, and 

 roofs, are almost wholly of wood ; and in this 

 neighborhood the fires that burn on our house- 

 hold hearth are entirely the gift of the living 

 forest. 



But independently of their market price in 

 dollars and cents, the trees have other values ; 

 they are connected in many ways with the 

 civilization of a country ; they have their im- 

 portance in an intellectual and in a moral sense. 

 After the first rude stage of progress is past 

 in a new country — when shelter and food have 

 been provided — people begin to collect the 

 conveniences and pleasures of a permanent 

 home about their dwellings, and then the 

 former generally sets out a few trees before 

 his door. This is very desirable, but it is 

 only the first step in the track ; something 

 more is needed ; the preservation of fine trees, 

 already standing, marks a further progress, 

 and this point we have not reached. It fre- 

 quently happens that the same man who yes- 

 terday planted some half dozen branchless 

 saplings before his door, will to-day cut down 

 a noble elm, or oak, only a few rods from his 

 house, an object which was in itself a hundred 

 fold more beautiful than any other in his pos- 

 session. In very truth, a fine tree near a house 

 is a much greater embellishment than the 

 thickest coat of paint that could be put on its 

 walls, or a whole row of wooden columns to 

 adorn its front ; nay, a large shady tree in a 

 door-yard is much more desirable than the 

 most expensive mahogany and velvet sofa in 

 the parlor. Unhappily, our people generally 

 do not see things in this light. But time is a 

 very essential element, absolutely indispensable 

 indeed, in true civilization ; and in the course 

 of years we shall, it is to be hoped, learn fur- 

 ther lessons of this kind. Closer observation 

 will reveal to us the beauty and excellence of 

 simplicity, a quality as yet too little valued or 

 understood in this country. And when we 

 have made this further progress, then we shall 

 take better care of our trees. We shall not 

 be satisfied with setting out a dozen naked 



saplings before our door, because our neighbor 

 on the left did so last year ; nor cut down a 

 whole wood within a stone's throw of our 

 dwelling, to pay for a Brussels carpet from 

 the same piece as our neighbors 's on the right ; 

 no, we shall not care a stiver for mere show 

 and parade, in any shape whatever, but we 

 shall look to the general properties and fitness 

 of things, whether our neighbors to the right 

 or the left do so or not. 



How easy it would be to improve most of 

 the farms in the country by a little attention 

 to the woods and trees, improving their ap- 

 pearance, and adding to their market value at 

 the same time ! Thinning woods and not 

 blasting them ; clearing only such ground as 

 is marked for immediate tillage ; preserving 

 the wood on the hill-tops and rough side hills ; 

 encouraging a coppice on this or that knoll ; 

 permitting bushes and young trees to grow at 

 will along the brooks and water-courses ; 

 sowing, if need be, a grove on the bank of 

 the pool, such as are found on many of our 

 farms, sparing an elm or two about the spring; 

 with a willow also to overhang the well ; 

 planting one or two chestnuts, or oaks, or 

 beeches, near the gates or bars ; leaving a few 

 others scattered about every field to shade the 

 cattle in summer, as is frequently done, and 

 setting out others in groups, or singly, to 

 shade the house — how little would be the labor 

 or expense required to accomplish all this, and 

 how desirable would be the result ! Assuredly, 

 the pleasing character thus given to a farm 

 and a neighborhood, is far from being beneath 

 the consideration of a sensible man. 



But there is also another view of the subject. 

 A careless indifference to any good gift of our 

 gracious Maker shows a want of thankfulness, 

 as any abuse or waste betrays a reckless spirit 

 of evil. It is, indeed, strange that one claiming 

 to be a rational creature should not be tho- 

 roughly ashamed of the spirit of destruc- 

 tiveness, since the principle itself is clearly 

 an evil one. Let us remember that it is the 

 Supreme Being who is the Creator, and in how 

 many ways do we see his gracious providence, 

 his Almighty economy, deigning to work pro- 

 gressive renovation in the humblest objects, 

 when their old forms have become exhausted 

 by time ! There is also something in the care 

 of trees which rises above the conmion labors 

 of husbandry, and speaks of a generous mind. 

 We expect to wear the fleece from our flocks, 



