TREES WITH AN EDUCATION 71 



adequate to fill all demands is drawn off as in- 

 terest. In 1902 the state forest of Saxony, com- 

 prising 432,300 acres, yielded an interest of 97,- 

 200,000 feet, thus providing an annual net revenue 

 of $4.50 per acre. In the same year the entire 

 German Empire made a total profit of $23,000,000 

 on its state forests. 



These days, in the human world, we hear a great 

 deal about the frills and fancies of education. There 

 are corresponding collegiate luxuries in the tree 

 kingdom. Man is the instigator and he maintains 

 fashionable finishing schools where he trains trees 

 in odd and sometimes grotesque ways merely to sat- 

 isfy his own whims and oddities. Up until the mid- 

 dle of the last century "verdant sculpture" or "topi- 

 ary work" was a leading attraction of the great 

 private estates of England and the Continent. Un- 

 der the expert hands of skilled gardeners, trees 

 were clipped and trained into all kinds of strange 

 shapes. Sometimes they merely represented geo- 

 metrical designs. More often they were cut to 

 represent birds, beasts, and even human forms. 

 They were usually more novel than beautiful and 

 required constant and infinite care to keep them in 

 proper condition. Pliny is mentioned as having 

 his Tuscan villa decorated with rows of verdant 

 sentries. Before 1700 the Italian gardens were 



