Ornamental Planting. 115 



that once sheltered Charles the Second ; the Charter Oak at Hart- 

 ford, and the Treaty Tree at Philadelphia, which were monuments 

 while they lasted, and were cherished as relics when they fell. 



454. It is a pleasant thing on any commemorative occasion, as 

 the centennial of a town, the dedication of a church, or the founda- 

 tion of an institution, to plant a tree as a living witness of the 

 occasion. It should be of some long-living and large-growing kind, 

 to the end that it may for a long period bear in remembrance the 

 occasion that gave it a place, and that claims for it a protection. 



455. In considering the subject of ornamental planting, it may 

 be presented under the three following divisions, viz. : 



(1.) Home-adornment, and the planting of private grounds. 

 (2.) Village-improvement, and the planting of the wayside. 

 (3.) City parks, and the plantation of grounds in rural cemeteries, 

 and around public institutions. 



(1.) Home-adornment, and tJie Planting of Private Grounds. 



45G. In respect to this class of ornament, the author will venture 

 to quote from a paper read by him before the Department of Super- 

 intendence of the National Educational Association, at its meeting 

 held in New York city, in the spring of 1881, as presenting thoughts 

 concerning the motives and their effect, that may be deemed of in- 

 terest in this connection : 



457. " The man who has cleared a farm out of the forest seldom 

 or never plants a tree. He has come, from long custom, to look 

 upon trees as an iucumbrance to be removed ; and whenever his 

 home presents a noticeable amount of sylvan shade, it is more likely 

 to be the work of a younger generation, who have no sympathy 

 with his aversion, and a better idea of the comforts of home-life. 

 Americans have been reproached for having but slight attachment 

 tj the homes of their childhood ; and this willingness to sell to a 

 stranger the laud that a parent has cleared and cultivated, and on 

 which their own early years have been spent, has been ascribed to 

 a certain instability of character, and an uneasy desire for change. 

 There is doubtless a strong affinity between a love of home and of 

 country, and it is true that an attachment to a homestead because of 

 ancestral possessions and family associations, would greatly tend to 

 increase our national prosperity and happiness. It would lead to sub- 

 stantial investments for permanence and future enjoyment, that the 



