56 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



look louesoine if given all the tree room when planted which the}' will 

 require after ten or a dozen years of healthy growth. Thus in a little 

 time they become crowded and then not only is their charm and 

 beauty as trees lost, but the highest beauty of the lawn is lost also ; 

 for nothing will make amends for the want of some space of clear, 

 unobstructed, beautiful turf, on which the sun may throw its light, 

 and across which may play the shadows of the clouds. The only 

 remedy for thick planting is the axe. But how we dislike to cut 

 them down. They have cost us labor and care and love. We 

 planted some of them, it njay chance, for a dear boy or girl, and 

 we have loved them for their sakes. If cut out they mar the beauty 

 of the grounds, if left they become eye-sores. It takes much faith 

 to realize that a little maple will some day require four or five square 

 rods of ground for its own use, or that a fir will not look becoming 

 unless its lower branches have a space of ground thirty feet square 

 on which to spread themselves — but some such faith as this must be 

 exercised whenever one plants trees for the embellishment of his 

 grounds. 



Fruit trees are as much out of place on a lawn, or in purely orna- 

 mental grounds, as a handful of chips would be thrown upon a pansy 

 bed. The apple tree in the full wealth of its rich fruitage is a beau- 

 tiful object but its beauty belongs to the orchard not to the lawn. If 

 an exception is to be made in favor of grounds of small extent, let 

 the apple tree be set where it can be picked only. The dropping 

 fruit is not a lawn ornament, its branches are only beautiful when 

 covered with bloom, and then only for a few days. It should never 

 be planted as an ornamental tree. 



Again, harmony of form and color in trees, with their artificial 

 surroundings should be regarded. Tall, slender trees will not look 

 well beside a low building with a flat roof, nor will broad, round- 

 topped trees beside a tall bailding with a sharp roof. It is the rule 

 of personal vesture applied to the forms of arboreal beauty. Tall 

 and short men should dress differently. The hat that would set be- 

 comingly upon the one, would look unbecoming upon the other. 

 Color should be studied — not only the spring and summer tints of 

 virgin and mature leaf, but the ripened and brilliant hues of autumn. 

 Crimson and green foliage may go well together with the walls of a 

 white house ; while bronze and yellow would have a discordant effect. 

 The effect of color in tree foliage at different seasons, in connection 



