122 HOW TO LIVE IN THE COUNTRY 



lish oak, the Scotch elm, the English beech, and the 

 European linden all come to us with established 

 habits that they do not easily yield. They hold their 

 leaves in autumn for two or three weeks longer than 

 American trees of the same sort. King Charlie's 

 oak and the Scotch elm give us their russet leaves 

 until well into the edge of winter the oak some- 

 times all winter. 



In Florida I find that the water oak and the per- 

 simmon and the black jack oak are to be reckoned 

 with for midwinter foliage. The persimmon gives 

 us a fine show of mixed scarlet and yellow, while the 

 black jack, a little later in December, is gorgeous 

 with its motley hues. This sort of foliage is hardly 

 disposed of before the sweet gum and the sugar maple 

 put on their spring foliage and their crimson blos- 

 soms. 



So it is that everywhere there are enough of fine 

 things, growing where no man can turn them to 

 rhythm or joy, and what can one say about it all ex- 

 cept that Nature does not like the ugly and that the 

 soul of all things is beautiful. Learn to look around 

 you, and you will find material everywhere waiting 

 for a place on your lawn. A tree lawn needs judg- 

 ment, however, or you will gather together trees that 

 do not mate well and will soon become diseased. 



I have spoken slightingly of weeping trees and of 

 sheared trees. I do not mean that weeping trees 

 should be always discarded, but to plant a distorted 

 affair in the eyes of the public, simply because some 



