142 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



June 



6 



"I CAN appreciate the beauty of a fine field of wheat, 

 corn, or clover, and I like to see fine horses and cat- 

 tle, but as for your trees, and shrubs, and flowers, I 

 know little and care less." This is a very common 

 way for men to talk who have been born in the coun- 

 try, and whose whole lives have been spent there, 

 surrounded by trees, shrubs, and plants, the most 

 beautiful in the world. To such people, the country 

 has really no beauties, save those that contribute to 

 their riches or worldly prosperity. They seem to feel 

 that it would be inconsistent for a good, thorough 

 working farmer to give some attention to the sponta- 

 neous productions of his woods and meadows — to 

 stud}-, and become acquainted with the names, char- 

 acters, and beauties of the trees, shrubs, and plants, 

 that nature has planted and reared for him. Is it so ? 

 Is it real'" ■^ecossa'-y, in order to be a good farmer, 

 to avoid ah muorcourse with nature, except in field 

 crops ? We know that is not so ; for seme of the 

 best agriculturists we ever knew, practical, hard 

 working men, too, were as keenly alive to the natu- 

 ral beauties of a landscape, and to the individual 

 beauties of trees and plants, as though they had noth- 

 ing else to do but cherish and cultivate that taste. 

 They knew the locality of every noble or remarkable 

 specimen of forest trees in all the country about, and 

 the favorite haunts of the most rare and beautiful wild 

 flowers within many miles. They could tell in a 

 moment how many species of oaks, elms, maples, Sic, 

 were indigenous to their forests, with as much accu- 

 racy as a good fruit grower could tell the varieties of 

 fruit in his garden or orchard. To such people coun- 

 try life has a charm that sweetens and lightens the 

 burden of labor, and they, and their family, are noted 

 for their superior taste and intelligence. He only, 

 who has a knowledge of trees and plants, and who 

 has learnt to appreciate their beauties, can enjoy the 

 pure pleasures of the country. In the spring of the 

 year the budding and blossoming of the various spe- 

 cies are noted from day to day with a lively interest, 

 and not for their beauty alone, but as indicative of the 

 earliness or lateness of the season. So are the peri- 

 ods of the maturity of their seeds, and the autumnal 

 changing and falling of the foliage. These are the 

 interesting and beautiful signs of the progress and 

 change of season, that every man, and woman, too, 

 living" in the coimtry, should, by no means, be insen- 

 sible of. 



We do not expect that anything we may say, now 

 or hereafter, on this subject, will awaken those who 

 have grown gray in their indifference to the produc- 



tions of our woodlands, but we do hope to stir up the 

 young, whose habits of thought and action are not 

 yet formed, and who have not become wholly pos- 

 sessed of the one idea — that of money making — which 

 blights and destroys all the finer and bettor feelings and 

 tastes. They have more leisure than ihcir fatliers 

 had, education is more general, science and taste are 

 both uniting with labor in all parts of the world, so 

 that working men w'ill not be mere machines, per- 

 forming their day's labor as an ox or a horse. " The 

 cultivation of the soil" is no longer the farmer's mott'", 

 but the "cultivation of the soil and the mind," — the 

 mind above all. 



But the native riches of our woods are not neglect- 

 ed by farmers or country people alone, they are ne- 

 glected, unjustly, by all classes. There is a great 

 taste throughout our country, and especially around 

 our cities and villages, for planting shade and orna- 

 mental trees. Thousands and thousands of dollars 

 are annually expended m ornamental planting, and 

 whilst rare and costly exotics are gathered from all 

 parts of the world, our own beautiful trees are ne- 

 glected. The Tulip tree, or white wood, is one of 

 the finest deciduous trees in the world, whether we 

 consider its habit of growth, lofty and elegant, its 

 foliage large, tropical-like, and glossy, or its flowers, 

 as large and beautiful as the world-renowned tulip. 

 People every day admire it, and enquire its name, 

 when they see it growing luxuriantly in our grounds ; 

 but when when we tell them it is simply their native 

 "white wood," they are surprized. Yet we can 

 hardly persuade any one to plant it, just because it is 

 a native of the woods- 



What tree can be more beautiful than our chest- 

 nut, with its large, glossy foliage, and graceful clus- 

 ter of flowers ; or the elm, with its wide-spreading 

 and gracefully-drooping branches ; or the scarlet 

 maple, with its bright and early blossoms, and silvery 

 foliage ; or the Amelanchier, (shad blow,) now light- 

 ing up the woods with its flowers of snowy white- 

 ness ; or the azaleas, (honeysuckle,) that will soon 

 set the hills in a blaze of bloom. Then our noble 

 oaks, hickory, walnuts, fcc, — why neglect such trea- 

 sures, and seek for foreign species not half so grand 

 or so beautiful ? We would not discourage the in- 

 troduction and planting of rare and fine exotics ; they 

 should be mixed wnth our native trees, to give the 

 plantation an air of keeping and cultivation. 



People who have not seen our native trees in open, 

 airy situations, under good, careful culture, know 

 nothing of their real beauties. An elm, or a tulip 

 tree, crowded up in a thicket, with a tall, naked trunk, 

 thirty or forty feet high, and a mere tuft of leaves on 

 the summit, is a totally different object from the same 

 tree standing on a lawn, with a finely developed form, 

 and luxuriant foliage. Trees, like men, and more 

 than men, show culture and care in their training. 

 Now, we ask our young friends in the country, to 

 take up this matter the present summer, and cultivate 

 an acquaintance with the woodlands of their neigh- 

 borhood. Some choice young specimens may be 

 selected for removal, next autumn or spring, to the 

 pleasure ground, or donryard, or to the side of the 

 highway, skirting the dwelling. Seeds may be col- 

 lected as they ripen, and thus specimens may be 

 reared that cannot be successfully transplanted from 

 their native locale. Keep your eyes open ns you 

 pass around the fields and woods, as you would if 

 you were " gunning," but withdifirrent feelings, and 

 you will discover beauties that will surprise you and 



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