10 THE TIM BUNKER PAPERS. 



ment tolerated in things sacred or secular. But the first 

 Deacon loved shade and meditation, if he failed to ap 

 preciate the beautiful in trees, and so planted this elm and 

 the row of maples that adorn the street leading from his 

 house to the meeting-house. The elm now is a very ma 

 jestic object, and probably no one passes under the shadow 

 of its wide-spreading branches, and looks up into its leafy- 

 arches in summer, without admiring it and blessing the 

 memory of its planter. The offer of so conservative a 

 man as Mr. Bunker, is a good indication of its value. 

 Even he would shell out the cash if he could rear such a 

 noble creation in a day, in front of his dwelling. 



A good many of his neighbors would give half as much 

 for such an elm, but for some strange reason neither Mr. 

 Bunker nor his neighbors plant ornamental trees, though 

 they are plenty enough in the forests, and the nurseries 

 have them in great variety for a mere trifle. It does not 

 occur to them that time will make of the humblest sapling 

 as lordly a tree and as graceful in its proportions as the 

 big elm. 



They have only to plant it in good soil, and guard it 

 against injury, and nature will do the rest without com 

 pensation. Every year will add to its gracefulness, and 

 to the value of the homestead which it adorns. The time 

 has come when farmers should think more of planting or 

 namental trees as a matter of economy. They can be 

 planted at the roadside with little disadvantage to the ad 

 jacent land. If maples are planted, they will, in a few 

 years, be yielding sugar. If elms, they will soon turn a 

 barren and uninteresting road into a graceful, shaded 

 avenue, in the summer. It should be a part of the settled 

 policy of every farmer to adorn all the roads leading 

 through his farm in this manner. If he continues in 

 possession, these trees will be objects of interest to 

 make his home attractive as long as he lives. If he 

 removes, his place will be more salable to any reason- 



