THE LINDENS, ETC. 55 



wide expanse of blue sky in bold and charmingly 

 rugged outlines. 



The tree is not symmetrical, and its foliage is not 

 luxurious on the contrary, it is rather thin ; but in 

 spite of this, the wild black cherry with its unconven- 

 tional branches and its shining green leaves is a beau- 

 tiful tree such as an artist likes to draw. Where 

 other trees spread plumelike against the sky, a solid 

 mass of green, the black cherry's topmost branches 

 are penciled in dainty silhouette. This is one of the 

 means by which I can identify the tree at a great dis- 

 tance. It is always in contrast with its surroundings. 



We are so often attracted by contrast in natural 

 landscape, that I am constrained to call attention to it 

 as an indispensable accessory of beauty ; in a word, 

 without the thin foliage and unobstructed boughs of 

 some of our less luxuriant trees, a landscape, espe- 

 cially if wooded, is heavy and monotonous. But we 

 might look far before we would find the wild black 

 cherry listed as a beautiful tree in the nurserymen's 

 catalogues. Why ? Well, I may explain at once 

 that there are those whose sense of the beautiful is 

 narrowed down to the confines of a single fact ; for 

 instance, a regularly proportioned tree with an or- 

 derly habit is considered beautiful ; that is as far as 

 some people allow imagination to go. That rugged- 

 ness, picturesqueness, contrastiveness, and boldness are 



