TIIE LINDENS, ETC. 55 



i 



wide expanse of blue sky in bold and charmingly 

 rugged outlines. 



The tree is not symmetrical, and its foliage is not 

 luxurious — on the contrary, it is rather thin ; but in 

 spite of this, the wild black cherry with its unconven- 

 tional branches and its shining green leaves is a beau- 

 tiful tree such as an artist likes to draw. Where 

 other trees spread plumelike against the sky, a solid 

 mass of green, the black cherry's topmost branches 

 are penciled in dainty silhouette. This is one of the 

 means by which I can identify the tree at a great dis- 

 tance. It is always in contrast with its surroundings. 



We are so often attracted by contrast in natural 

 landscape, that I am constrained to call attention to it 

 as an indispensable accessory of beauty; in a word, 

 without the thin foliage and unobstructed boughs of 

 some of our less luxuriant trees, a landscape, espe- 

 cially if wooded, is heavy and monotonous. But we 

 might look far before we would find the wild black 

 cherry listed as a beautiful tree in the nurserymen's 

 catalogues. Why ? Well, I may explain at once 

 that there are those whose sense of the beautiful is 

 narrowed down to the confines of a single fact ; for 

 instance, a regularly proportioned tree with an or- 

 derly habit is considered beautiful ; that is as fur as 

 some people allow imagination to go. That rugged- 

 ness, picturesqueness, contrastiveness, and boldness are 



