78 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1893. 



baps neighboring families, can linger in the enjoyment of friendly 

 converse as the long shadows flicker on the soft green sward. 



This lawn ought to be situated so near the house tliat the sunlight, 

 which passes unobstructed over it, can find ingress into the living 

 rooms, from which the inmates can also obtain the pleasant outlook 

 from the house. It should be as spacious as the grounds will admit, 

 or as the owner can afford. 



There are a great many shade trees which thrive well in our soil 

 and climate, and they are all beautiful in their proper places. The 

 elm, among trees, is unsurpassed for majestic gracefulness ; the oak, 

 for massive strength, is the king of trees ; the maple, for utility and 

 cleanliness, is superior to all the other shade trees ; the ash, the 

 beech, the chestnut, and all the evergreen trees, are beautiful in 

 themselves, and when tastefully arranged with other trees and shrub- 

 bery on a lawn, or elsewhere, are lovely in the extreme. Besides 

 these there are many smaller trees, like the birches, willows and 

 flowering trees, which can be used to advantage on the lawn, and a 

 host of fruit trees which are useful as well as beautiful. 



Fruit trees are closely allied to flowers, as by a kind dispensation 

 of Nature flowers precede fruit, and a fruit tree in full bloom is fre- 

 quently as beautiful as a flower-bed, and gives, moreover, a double 

 pleasure, for the observer can taste the luscious and life-giving fruit 

 and enjoy the lovely sight at the same time. Therefore fruit trees 

 can be used to advantage, and be ornamental as well as useful. 



The mulberry tree is one which makes a fine foliage, and some 

 varieties bear delicious fruit. Our apple tree is a fine tree, both in 

 regard to shape, foliage, flower and fruit, and after the tree has been 

 growing from twenty to forty years it assumes a most pleasing 

 expression. All crab-apples are noted for their beauty and the 

 exquisite fragrance of their blossoms, and can be used to advantage 

 on the home grounds. The pear, also, is so elegant a tree, even if it 

 bore no fruit, it would rank high for decorative purposes. 



There are many other beautiful flowering trees, such as the locust, 

 with its long, hanging clusters of sweet-scented white flowers. The 

 chief objections to the locust are that the foliage comes out sparsely 

 and late in the spring, and falls off early in the autumu. Its 

 branches are brittle and liable to be broken by wind and ice storms, 

 and the falling pods of some species disfigure the appearance of the 

 lawn. Notwithstanding these defects it can be used to advantage 

 with other trees when a variety is sought for, and should find a place 

 in the home grounds more frequently than it does. The Laburnum, 



