THE PLANTING AND CARE OF TREES AND SHRUBS 

 FOR ORNAMENT 



ONE of the j^aeat influences that has worked toward 

 the attainment of a hij^h state of civihzation has 

 been the love for the beautiful in art and nature; 

 and the greater of these is 

 the beautiful in nature: 

 omnipotent, where the ruth- 

 less hand of man has not 

 despoiled it in his greed. 



It is interesting to note 

 that the earliest exponents 

 of organized society among 

 ancient nations, either se- 

 lected beautiful groves or 

 wooded slopes for their 

 religious or philosophical 

 discourses, or if such places 

 were not available, never 

 failed to adorn the sur- 

 roundings of their temples 

 and halls of learning 

 with ornamental trees and 

 plants. In fact there can 

 be no doubt that the first 

 ornamental plantings on 



earth were those connected with the temple grounds of 

 China, whose civilization probably antedates that of any 

 other nation. 



At first only those plants indigenous to the neighbor- 

 hood were available, but as venturesome explorers began 

 to penetrate into unknown lands they brought with 

 them upon their return the seeds of the plants of such 

 countries as they had visited, always selecting, as is 

 human nature, those which were to them the most 

 strange and beautiful. 



As time went on i)lant breeders began to help in the 

 work of increasing the number of trees and other plants 

 until we now possess a vast amount of material suitable 

 for almost any soil or situation. Nor has this work of 



