62 TREES IN WINTER 



in the prairie section of the West have many times declared that 

 the longing to see the trees and the hills of New England caused 

 more distress than the desire to see old friends and relatives. 



The value of trees from the economic or commercial stand- 

 point is well understood and can be estimated on the basis of dollars 

 and cents. Their esthetic value and their value from the stand- 

 point of health is not so generally appreciated nor is it so amenable 

 to calculation. We hear a great deal these days about surveys — 

 forest surveys, agricultural surveys, and the like. A survey in 

 this sense means an inventory or a stock-taking. It would be 

 interesting to make a survey based upon the landscape wealth of 

 any section or of the whole country. It would be interesting also 

 to compare in such a survey the relative value of the various 

 elements of the landscape. It seems safe to predict that in most 

 sections trees would be credited with a very large proportion of 

 the total wealth. 



A NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM 



There is a tendency nowadays on the part of the cities to extend 

 their park systems far into the country. In Massachusetts a reser- 

 vation scheme known as the Metropolitan Park System, embracing 

 the whole state is well under way. Immense tracts of land 

 possessing admirable landscape features have been acquired and 

 improved. Eoads and boulevards, connecting the various holdings 

 with one another and with the Boston Park System have been 

 constructed. The trees have been protected from injury and many 

 new plantings have been made. The aim of the whole scheme is 

 to preserve the natural scenery and to make it accessible to the 

 appreciative people of the commonwealth. The project does not 

 interfere with the utilization of the surrounding land for agri- 

 cultural purposes. It has had a marked influence upon land values 

 and has developed among the people a local patriotism and a 

 greater appreciation for natural scenery. 



The movement in Massachusetts is sure to exert a wide influence. 

 At the present time there is a movement on foot that will connect 

 Montreal and New York by the use of a great scenic boulevard. 

 Other states and districts are bound to see the wisdom of such a 

 policy and to enact similar laws for the conservation of natural 

 scenery. The next step should bring together the park reserva- 



