EMBELLISHMENT WITH TREES AND SHRUBS. 205 



oped sufficiently to encourage them to become participants in this 

 good work. 



Too mtiny omit to plant trees, who could perfectly well do so, 

 because of the old excuse that they grow sc» slowly and will not 

 benefit the planter. Such a man should recall the grateful shade 

 of man}' a fine tree, planted in his own or a former generation, 

 which he has be en privileged to enjoy. Let that, combined with 

 many a charming landscape picture, seen through a frame of foli- 

 age planted b}' another — perchance an ancestor — stimulate him 

 to go and do likewise. Will he not recognize that, as he reaps 

 benefits from those who have planted before him, so he ought in his 

 turn to plant for those who come after? 



Several old works upon this subject, ss well as later ones, have 

 interested me; and one writer in 1796, who was well acquainted, 

 we are told, with still earlier writers back to 1664, cautions his 

 readers in the strongest terms against a "want of spirit" in 

 planting. He says that all who undertake planting must have 

 " industry, spirit, and perseverance to go through with what they 

 undertake ; and we recommend to such as are possessed of these 

 valuable qualifications to begin upon a small scale, and to let their 

 seminaries, their nurseries, and their plantations increase with 

 their experience." 



He further says, " While, however, we caution our readers 

 against entering immaturel}' upon the business of planting, we 

 cannot refrain from mentioning the pleasures which result from 

 it. How rational, and to a contemplative mind how delightful, to 

 observe the operations of Nature; — to trace her in every stage, 

 from the seed to the perfected plant; and, from beneath the leaf 

 stalk of this, through the flower bud, the flower, and the seed-ves- 

 sel, to the seed again ! Man must be employed ; and how more 

 agreeably than in conversing with Nature, and in seeing the works 

 of his own hands, assisted b}- her, rising into perfection — " so as 

 to grow as he grows, to bear him company and alTord him grateful 

 shade when he shall most need it in advancing years, and when 

 life is ended to be left behind as a most beautiful memorial. 



The reputation of this Society is familiar to horticulturists gen- 

 erally throughout the United States, and its name is also known 

 abroad. The esteem in which it is held as an educator is now 

 great, but must largely increase as each new year comes around 



