FORESTRY AND ARBORICULTURE. 73 



The knowledge acquired in this way, practically applied 

 afterward in going about the country in ordinary pursuits, 

 would soon familiarize the student with the trees and add 

 much pleasure to daily walks and drives. 



The interest which would undoubtedly be developed could 

 not fail to lead, in many cases, to further study and a more 

 general diffusion of practical information in regard to trees 

 and kindred subjects. The formation of such classes is to 

 be commended in every way and might profitaljly supplant 

 the clubs, now so fashionable, formed to struggle with the 

 intricacies of Browning and Shelley. For however desirable 

 it may be to become acquinted with profound writers, there 

 is a morbid tendency just now in these literary matters not 

 well to encourage. Any study, therefore, which takes one 

 out of doors, and with all things fresh and healthful, can be 

 cheerfully recommended. To study the trees is as good for 

 the l)ody as the mind. Through walks and drives our sys- 

 tem is invigorated and the blood is sent coursing more freshly 

 through our veins, while a fund of valuable and practical 

 information is beinsj o-ained at the same time. 



The study of trees, both in their botanical and economic 

 aspects, — the establishment of ornamental plantations, or 

 tree planting in the street or by the roadside, as well as the 

 care or the creation of more extensive forest reserves, — all 

 tend to the good of the Commonwealth and the prosperity of 

 its citizens. It is fitting, therefore, to close this essay with 

 the words of one who unceasingly felt the deepest interest in 

 these subjects ; and although only remembered personally 

 by the passing generation has left us, in his volume on the 

 " Trees and Shrubs of Massachusetts," a work which will 

 ever cause him to be held in grateful esteem. 



In the closing paragraph of a chapter on the physical and 

 economic importance of the forests to our State, and which 

 wears well the forty years it has been written, Mr. Emerson 

 says* : — 



But why should it be thought important to reclaim or render 

 valuable the waste or worthless lands of Massachusetts ? 



There are millions of acres in the western States far richer than 



• Emerson. " Trees and Shrubs of Mass.," 1846, p. 36. 2d. ed, 1875, p. 43. 



