974 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



whose three-acre place at Highland Park, 111., has been 

 an inspiration to many thousands of home-builders, has 

 n:aintained for twenty-five years a cutting through his 

 woods which affords the tiny picture of Lake Michigan 

 shown on page 971. 



A dozen little vistas through woods to such simple 

 features as meadow, rocks, tree, brook, or waterfall will 

 lift a commonplace woodlot into the class of art works. 



VISTAS INSIDE THE WOODS 



I sympathize with those people who like absolute 

 wildness and heartily believe in leaving a portion of the 

 woods entirely alone, if such a thing is possible. Ordi- 

 narly, however, when woods are simply neglected, insects 

 and diseases kill or disfigure most of the trees, while the 

 survivors grow too high for their leaves, flowers, and 

 fruits to be seen with ease. Moreover, one can hardly 

 see even the trunks of the biggest trees because the little 

 ones are in the way. To enjoy a century-old oak one 

 must be able to see it far off enough to get an idea of 

 its height, spread, and character. 



Consequently, it is generally wise to cut vistas to the 

 largest trees and to make these vistas parts of the system 

 of drives and trails. Any beginner can understand this 

 principle, but if he cuts at one operation all the small 

 trees surrounding a big one, he is likely to kill the best 

 tree by too much sunlight. It is often prudent to thin 

 about one-fourth of the surrounding trees. By this 

 method the central tree becomes gradually accustomed 



to enduring more light. Anyone who thus pays honor 

 to a favorite tree, as suggested in this article, is not 

 likely to go back to the old sentimentalism which forbids 

 all use of the axe. On the contrary, he is likely to 

 become ardently enthusiastic about landscape forestry. 

 He tramps the woods to discover the largest rocks, and 

 those of the strongest stratification, finest color, richest 

 moss, or rocks with trees growing through them. He 

 seizes upon every glade as a chance for a campfire, 

 players' green, or wild garden. And he tries to bring all 

 the best features into a system of trails, Some prefer 

 to carry a can of red paint, instead of a hatchet, and 

 give a dab with the brush to every tree that is to feel 

 the axe during the winter or whenever convenient. 



WILD FLOWERS 



One of the main objects of landscape forestry is the 

 production of great masses of wild flowers that will 

 multiply without care and betray no work of man. It 

 is pleasant to see thousands of hepaticas, blue, white, and 

 pink, or of bloodroot flowers glancing in the April sun- 

 light, wild blue phlox by the acre, and American blue- 

 bells carpeting the forest floor so thickly that one cannot 

 step off the trail without crushing the flowers. ( See page 

 975). The woods were once as floriferous as the picture 

 below and the modern watchword is restoration. A 

 landscape gardener of Chicago has sent me an itemized 

 list of $6,000,000 worth of work that he has done since 



Photo by Jens Jensen, Landicafe Architect. 



RESTORATION OF THE WILD FLOWERS IS ONE AIM OF LANDSCAPE FORESTRY 



This natural "5un-opning" \j\ a Wisconsin forest is full of the large blue flag Iris versicolor, suggesting the abundance of wild flowers before 

 man's hiterferencc. Mr. and Mrs. C. L. Hutchinson have an iris glade in their woods at Lake Geneva, Wis. 



