i 



PRESERVATION OF TREES. 



greater beaut v to a place than this f^imily of Oalcs. These trees are youii!:,' and thril'ty, 

 ami have sprung up since the Indians were driven from their hunting grounds here- 

 abouts, before which time the vuung growth was kept down by an annual burning- 

 over of the openings. 



IJere also are to be occasionally found the Sugar and the Scarlet-flowering Maple, 

 and the graceful Elm is scarcely ever out of sight. The Buckeye is also frequent ; 

 the Honey Locust throws out its long, thorny branches on all sides ; the Aspen is to 

 be seen in the neighborhood of the stately Ash, and now and then a Mulberry, with 

 the Black Walnut, the Butternut, the Plane, and the Linden, complete the picture. 

 No! not complete it, for the Ilickories are all about us — rugged and sturdy, but full 

 of unpolished beauty, and deserving all the better care in their preservation where 

 they have planted themselves, because of the impossibility of transplanting them. 

 The Buttonwood, the Tulip tree, and the Willow, are also to be found in particular 

 localities, and the Glossy-leaved Thorn, the Dog-wood, the Cherry, the Balm of 

 Gilead, and the Sassafras in others. The Red Cedar, that once grew along the banks 

 of the Maumee, lias unfortunately been already exterminated, and the lovers of rural 

 beauty mourn its departure as that of a cherished friend. But the list already given 

 is sufficient to show how profusely and variously the ornaments of nature still adorn 

 this neighborhood. 



A proper degree of care on the part of the citizens, and tlie protection by the 

 city authorities of the trees standing along new streets, would give to a town thus 

 naturally favored, a plesant character and appearance that few places ever attain — and 

 that, too, with little trouble and less expense. It is not necessary to plant, but only 

 to select and save. Every citizen may build his house under the shade of noble 

 forest trees, and every street may be lined with them in considerable variety, and 

 of all sizes. 



It seems a matter of surprise that such advantages fail to be appreciated ; but it is 

 very commonly the case that the forest trees are all cut away before the inhabitants 

 take a thought about shade trees. This is about as reasonable as cutting off a beauti- 

 ful head of hair to make way for a wig. In Adrian, Mich., a place now unsurpassed 

 in the horticultural taste of its inhabitants, scarcely a tree can be found standing along 

 the streets where it originally grew. The noble Oaks, and Elms, and Ilickories that 

 were found upon its site, have been levelled with the earth, and its citizens are now 

 lamenting the bereavement, and waiting impatiently the slow growth of those they 

 have planted. The last of the Elms that I now recollect to have seen growing in its 

 streets, was cut down by a street overseer, who chanced to have occasion for brush in 

 filling up a ravine. It was a fine tree, and not a few felt hurt and indignant at its 

 destruction ; but the road-master saw no value in it, except as he could make its 

 branches useful in preventing the washing out of earth from the street. 



In the towns which, though injured, are not yet so bady defaced — and there are 

 many such — it is to be hoped that a different policy will prevail. Proprietors ought to 

 guard their trees with far more vigilance than they would their money, because they 

 are far less quickly rcq^laced. Town authorities ought sedulously to protect avenue 



