Mr. Evans's Address 177 



There is thus no end of material in connection with 

 trees for the most interesting study, and the enthu- 

 siastic teacher will find plenty of matter for lessons in 

 connection therewith all the year round. 



VI. The Esthetic 



In connection with this question of Nature-study, 

 we cannot dissociate from the subject the poetical 

 side, the appeal it makes to one's imagination, and 

 the manner in which it trains not only our mental 

 and moral faculties but also the aesthetic. We do not 

 want every child to become a poet or an artist, but we 

 would have every one acquire some amount of the 

 artistic and poetic vision. Trees are calculated to 

 cultivate this taste for the beautiful in a marked 

 degree. Is it not with feelings of fondness and pride 

 that we contemplate those magnificent trees that 

 beautify our landscape? 



As the poet truly sings — 



" One impulse from a vernal wood 

 May teach you more of man, 

 Of moral evil and of good, 

 Than all the sages can ". 



Whether we regard such a tree as the horse-chest- 

 nut with its tier upon tier of richly-painted flowers; 

 or the sturdy oak in the pride and lustihood of its 

 growth; or the "lady of the forest" with its beautiful 

 form, its silver-white stem, its ruddy-brown and purple 

 branches crowned with a mass of drooping tresses 

 that show when viewed en masse every shade of green 

 from olive to the brightest emerald ; whatever tree we 

 behold we are presented with a spectacle that delights 



^^^j^'^^^-^j^-^ 



