972 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



their own hands to don khaki and pick up the hatchet 

 with the greatest enthusiasm when they once got the idea 

 of blazing trails. A man who has created an immense 

 new business may be afraid to lay out a system of trails 

 in his own woods, without expert advice, until he under- 

 stands how the finest vistas are quickly created by intel- 

 ligent use of the axe, rather than by the slow and pot- 

 tering work of raising flowers from seeds. We can grasp 

 the main features of the great art of vista-making by 

 briefly considering, first the general appearance of the 



The most beautiful woodlands in the world, according 

 to many experts, are those which have the very real 

 quality commonly known by such impractical-sounding 

 names as seclusion, mystery, or charm. This eflFect can 

 generally be secured simply by restoring to the woodland 

 its natural fringe of shrubs and small trees, such as haw- 

 thorns, dogwoods, and viburnums. I once took a photog- 

 rapher from New York to Massachusetts to picture the 

 superb edging of Mr. Thayer's woods. Under Prof. 

 Sargent's direction Mr. Thayer had cut heavily into his 



Photo by Mrs. Lew IVatlace, Gate Farm, Galesburg, 111. 



A NATURAL GLADE IN TYPICAL MIDDLE WESTERN WOODLAND 



Just the place for a campfire, players' green, or wild garden. Like a sentinel, at this natural gateway, stands a hawthorn, with horizontal branches 



that connect this type of woodland with the great prairie outside. 



woods in the landscape, second the views from the in- 

 terior to the outside world, and third the vistas that are 

 wholly inside the woods. 



VIEWS OF WOODS FROM OUTSIDE 



Seen from house or grounds, the average farm woodlot 

 is a singularly unromantic proposition compared with 

 wild forest. This is chiefly due to the l^rowsing line made 

 by cattle, since they eat the foliage as high as they can 

 reach. I am not denying that the familiar deer parks of 

 England look very good to the unaccustomed eyes of an 

 American, for this type of beauty has been ripening for 

 a century or more, and the wide-spaced trees are all 

 handsome specimens. But the ordinary American wood- 

 lot is crowded with undeveloped trees, and, worst of all, 

 one can see right through them at a glance. There is 

 nothing left to the imagination except, perhaps, the 

 amount of money the farmer got for the hogs that have 

 destroyed every growing thing beneath the trees. 



forest so as to bring his most valuable trees into view 

 from the house. These are white pines, which were 

 formerly lost in the woods, but now have developed 

 splendidly on the side exposed to the sun. These stately 

 evergreens are now connected with the meadow by a 

 self-grown border of hawthorns and other shrubs which 

 are attractive the year round, while in the spring they 

 make a show of blossom such as the ordinary cow- 

 spoiled woodlot never gives. 



Such a shrubbery border should not be a complete 

 circle, for the woods look much more inviting when one 

 can see a driveway entering them, and it is often best 

 to cut deep enough into the woods to make at least one 

 fine view from the living room. Mr. Thayer has cut 

 many acres of big trees in order to get a series of fine 

 woodland views from his terrace. One cut goes clear 

 through the main forest in order to show a lake. An- 

 other goes into the wood far enough to reveal a mag- 

 nificent mass of mountain laurel. Country clubs are now 



