ness, and the curse of social life. Far be it from us to countenance this quackery of 

 upstart wealth, whose ephemeral brilliancy dazzles but to blind and ruin its votaries. 

 To call into existence in the bosom of a family, far more wants than can reasonably 

 be gratified, is an evil and a wrong of great magnitude. Such in) proper wantvS suggest, 

 and ever promj)t, improper actions. Engagements are entered into that can not well be 

 fulfilled ; and speculations follow of a more reckless character. True social wisdom 

 carefully avoids the temptations that beset the path of virtue. To the spirit of rivalry 

 and ambition there is no limit. If nine-tenths of the community lived in marble palaces 

 the other tenth might die of disappointment if they failed to erect palaces made of 

 polished ivory, and covered with plates of pure gold. In such a strife, where is the 

 wit, the taste, the science, or the happiness ? 



We must go back to the simplicity of nature, and the truthfulness of science, if we 

 would elevate and improve society. It can never be done by humbug. The country is 

 overrun with quacks of every degree — quack statesmen and quack philanthropists, 

 quack editors and quack clergymen, quack doctors and quack lawyers, quack authors 

 and quack artists. All these wax fat at the public expense ; and quack publishers are 

 beginning to share very liberally in the spoils. It is the artificial wants of the commu- 

 nity that sustain all these charlatans ; and it is difficult to discover at what point in our 

 social progress the pleasure of being cheated is to stop. A strong love of morbid excite- 

 ment pervades the very heart of society, and grows on what it feeds. The most trashy 

 and corrupting books make fortunes for the manufacturers and writers ; while works of 

 solid merit and of a purifying tendency, find comparatively few purchasers, and starve their 

 authors. These may be unwelcome truths, but they are important truths nevertheless. 



BEAUTY AND VALUE OF FOREST TREES. 



" The goodliness of trees when we behold them deliteth the eye." — Richard Hooker, 

 three hundred years ago. 



Born just 



fe 



No people have more reason than the Americans to admire " the goodliness of trees ;" 

 and yet, in no country are they more rudely assailed as the enemies of civilization, and 

 objects worthy of extermination by the ruthless axe and the consuming fire. Such 

 semi-barbarism is discreditable to our national taste, our common sense, and our fore- 

 sight in other matters of smaller moment. Trees abound in the elements of beauty 

 which may be combined in a thousand pleasing forms. Their culture enables the skili- 

 ful artist to paint his landscape in living verdure — to present to the eye, open fields 

 and shading groves, wood-crowned hills and sun-lit vales, in charming contrast. With- 

 out trees, the world would be a desert ; with them, it can be made a paradise. They 

 temper both heat and cold, prevent the injurious dryness of the atmosphere, and greatly 

 promote the fall of genial showers and seasonable rains, in spring, summer, and autumn. 

 For wood, timber, lumber, staves, and a thousand uses, they are almost invaluable. 



Forest-culture, considered as a science and an art, is destined to become extremely 

 popular in the United States. The boundless area of fertile lands in this country, the 

 admirable adaptation of its soil and climate to the growth of magnificent trees, and the 

 production of incomparable orchards, and the rich rewards that will recomjjense the 

 labor and capital devoted to this department of agriculture, can not fail to render it the 

 favorite pursuit of millions. 



The season for collecting the seeds of oaks, walnuts, beeches, and chestnuts, is at 

 hand. Some of these, sent to the continent of Europe, and put up under our direction, 

 have preserved their vitality, and are now growing up honored specimens of American 

 forest trees. Extracted from the burr as soon as ripe, none of these seeds should be 



