24 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1898. 



Heaven itself will commend, and sunshine and showers will 

 nourish, and the passer-by will forever praise, and the grounds 

 are themselves the primary and important feature in rural and 

 city life. 



The liberal use of deciduous and coniferous trees and plants 

 is imperative in landscape art, but should be carefully studied 

 and selected with a view to the most charming effect. It is an 

 art that should be accompanied by practical training in planting 

 the many different kinds of trees, widely differing in their 

 habits, by exposure and soil, to thrive well, and for years. 

 Holes for trees and shrubs should be large and well prepared, 

 giving the roots plenty of room for development, and a mound 

 in the centre of the hole for the tree to rest upon, giving the 

 lateral roots a downward tendency, and preventing an open 

 space under the tree, an important feature very much neglected. 



Judicious pruning should be given at the time of transplant- 

 ing, vigorous pruning with hard wooded sorts, and while they 

 are unsightly at first, they amply repay with increased growth 

 and luxuriant foliage. 



In planting parks with a view to their future development and 

 general use for the public, the raw materials of no two parks or 

 grounds can be found alike ; good soil is one of the chief requi- 

 sites for all grounds, if they are to be adorned with permanent 

 trees or shrubs, to keep in harmony with the natural contour of 

 surface, and the face of nature should be the guide to its embel- 

 lishment. The higher art is simple in expression, and trees or 

 plants should be placed in moist or dry situations, as experience 

 teaches best suited to their growth and longevity. Planting for 

 immediate effect or crowding trees together is not well adapted 

 to openness, in part essential to permanent landscape. It must 

 soon be followed by severe thinning out, the unshapely trees 

 and shrubs always out of harmony where beauty should reign 

 at every turn. For God makes the trees and man makes the 

 harmony. 



Parks are of use to bring the city and country in closer prox- 

 imity, and to contribute the greatest enjoyment for the greatest 

 number should be the law. The best parks are simple in their 



