we 
INTRODUCTION. 9 
without hindrance. One afternoon on coming home I found 
my house unroofed, and the place where a greenhouse 
stood in the morning swept clean, not a flower-pot, brick, 
or piece of glass left to show that I ever possessed a con- 
servatory of fine plants. Ican call to mind several in- 
stances of like character, each of which leads me to think 
that a strong protection is often required to enable the 
settler in the West to keep his foothold after he has ob- 
tained one. 
The question is, How shall protection be the most read- 
ily provided ?—how shall we get the trees we need? My 
only answer is, Grow them! This will require time and 
expense, most certainly—and what blessing does not? It 
takes time to get wealth, unless you are so fortunate, or un- . 
fortunate, as the case may be, as to have it given you; if 
so, it probably required time for the giver to obtain it. 
The great and important truth which I wish could be im- 
pressed upon the mind of every land-owner in America is, 
if you want improvements, begin, yes, begin them now! 
Do not put it off because you have no time to attend to it 
at present, nor because it will take so many years, and a 
little outlay at the start. You may say, “I can not wait 
so long.” 
Who asks you to wait? Time moves in spite 
of you. Plant the seeds to-day, and while you are making 
up your mind whether you will wait a few years for them 
or not, the trees will be growing. 
How often do we meet men with abundance of means 
who will tell you they would like to have a few trees here 
or there, a vineyard, or orchard, or a grove, and you pro- 
pose that they should immediately commence planting; 
1* 
