1854. 



NEW ENGLAND PARMER. 



237 



machine in operation, when they have seen ma- 

 terials of all descriptions, from a camln-ic kerchief 

 to a boy's overcoat, i-apidly, faster than half a 

 dozen persons can fit the work, beautifully stitched 

 and finished, when tlicy have seen the labor, which 

 would have occupied the hands of the loved ones 

 of their households the livelong day, performed 

 in a single hour, they will bo foremost in the ex- 

 periment, and join in blessing the kind angel, 

 which has l)rought this unexpected alleviation to 

 the condition of New England matrons. 

 Exeter, N. H., March 28, 1854. 



NATURAL BEAUTY OF ORNAMENTAL 

 TREES. 



Mr. Sr.F.ErER : — Excuse me, sir, if I once more 

 call your aUontion to one of the most barbarous 

 violations of good taste ever indulged in by the den- 

 izens of Boston, or any other city or town. 



You will recollect that in the course of the last 

 Bummer I wrote you a letter answering a query I 

 had seen in your paper, as to the utility of scrap- 

 ing and R'hitewasiug shade and ornamental trees. 



Lest I weary your patience, I will notrepeattlie 

 detailed arguments I used to prove the folly and 

 evil of such a proceeding, but will ask your atten- 

 tion a short time, whilst I pursue tho subject a lit- 

 tle farther. 



That letter was written too late to remedy the 

 evil of that year, and I take this early time to re- 

 awaken interest, vdih the hope of preventing its 

 repetition. 



The winter frosts are beginning to relax their 

 hold, and the long spring rains are seeking to unlock 

 thefrozeen fastnesses of the earth : now, therefore, 

 let all feel again tho ardor of the last season to do 

 their share towards l)oautifying nature. However 

 much the rains may be able to thaw the earth, one 

 benefit has already resulted from them, in the re- 

 juvenating and re-developing of the mosses and 

 lichens. 



Perhaps you remember that I dwelt, in the be- 

 fore mentioned letter, at some length upon the rare 

 beauties of color and form portrayed upon the 

 boles of tho trees, l)y the lichens and liverworts. 



The long rains and misty weather of sprjng are 

 peculiarly favorable to the development of this 

 kind of beauty, and I now call upon you, and all 

 lovers of nature, to look forth and recognize it 

 around you ; do you love the rich coloring of the 

 painter's landscape! Look upon the stem of the first 

 noble elm j-oumeet, unimprocrdbythehandofman, 

 and you will find tho artist's boasted beauties set 

 »t nought. 



When first your eye meets the tree's stem it will 

 see only a rich deep In-own, blue, or golden yellow, 

 but as it lingers longer, as curiosity draws you 

 neax-cr tho tree, new charms will develop them- 

 selves with surprising rapidity ; the uniform brown 

 will separate mto the most harmonious shading 

 ofred, brown and black ; the blue will become now 

 white, now blue, now purple or green ; the gold- 

 en yellow will burst upon you through the mist 

 and gloom like tiie lingeruig of last summer's 

 Bun. You may see golden tints rivalling Claude's 

 sunsets, and blacks and browns Hurpa.ssing Rem- 

 brandt. If you are a lover of the beautiful in form, 



where i an you find such mazy interweavings of 

 ■ vor changing and beautiful lines as in the outlines 

 of lichcnsand liverwort8,whero frond overlies frond, 

 or bending and rising, conform to tlie roughness- 

 es of the l)ark. Can any one fail to bow with rev- 

 erence before tlio deep scarred and furrowed bark 

 that tells of wars witii tho elements, and battles 

 fought and victories won, before we were even 

 children ; or when we see some kindly tuft of moss 

 with its long gray locks bending and nodding over, 

 and clasping, tho broken stem, or decaying trunk, 

 can we help comparing it to the grey hairs (jf age? 

 Lot no bar))ario hand touch the bark of a forest 

 tree ; as soon scrape (to clean) the fair skin of 

 3«our child or the surface of an alal)aster statue. 



I have met the argument of utility bol'ore,and 

 shown its unsoundness, and now appeal to nothing 

 hut the love for God-given beauty. How disagree- 

 able tho contrast and shock, when gazing upon the 

 outspread branches of some mighty tree, seeming 

 the very impersonation of strength , grandeur , grace 

 and beauty, our descending eye meets no easy gra- 

 dation from tho graceful sweep of the rich brown 

 branches, blending with tho harmoniously painted 

 stem, but a tuft of brush on the top of a column 

 of whitewashed wood. Let no Dno who has ever 

 laid, or permitted another to lay a ruthless hand 

 upon such charms, and remained unrepentant, dare 

 to claim the least appreciation of tho beautiful, or 

 true taste — he must be devoid of it. D;) you think 

 the artist's eye could have suffered it, or the artist's 

 hand executed it? No, it is the result of bad logic, 

 aided by the dicta of some ignorant pretenders to 

 the title of gardeners or foresters. 



But before I leave the su))ject, allow me to say 

 something regarding the planting of trees, and the 

 kinds to be selected. In making plantations by 

 the roadside or in our grounds, several conditions 

 must be taken into account ; beauty in the winter 

 and early spring, shude and beauty in the summer, 

 an easy and rapid growth, and particularly, if by 

 the roadside, a desire to have them beautiful and 

 healthy for several years. 



Were they willing to bear the noise,' dust and 

 heat of cities, some of the evergreens would be 

 most desirable, but for their perfection , fresh and 

 fi'co air is necessary. 



Next to them is the American elm. Of late a 

 cry has arisen against tho elm, l)ecau8e it loses its 

 leaves early and is liable to worms ; tho latter dif- 

 ficulty, care will for tho most partromedy, and the 

 former is more than counterbidanced by its won- 

 derful couibinatioii of good qualities. No other 

 treo combines at once elegance, delicate beauty, 

 symmetry, grace, strength, power and grandeur, in 

 any similar degree. 



Begin now, sir, and watch the deciduous trees 

 through the year, and see if at the emi of it you 

 do not agree with me that the American elm is 

 nearer an evergreen than any otiier. Look at it 

 now — witli its stem and top delineated against the 

 yellow evening sky ; iiovv soul-inspiring are the 

 ideas it suggests. And now draw nearer ; look up 

 through its Ijranclies and see its tracery against the 

 blue beyond, with tlio mazy interweaving of hough 

 over bougii, the elegant feathering of tlie spray, 

 and the almost leaf-likeness of tho buds. Wait 

 now a little till tlie sun and rain have swellal those 

 buds, and tiieir ))ursting sides part for tlie coming 

 flovjd. Now you will think it has leaved ; but no ! 

 another change is taking place ; the leaf is starting, 



