338 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 230. 



other g-iiide through the labyrinth of beauty about him 

 than his eager curiosity. But as this begins to wane would 

 it not be wise to direct his attention a little deeper to the 

 infinite variety of leaf and flower, the endless diversity of 

 form and structure in bird and insect, shell and crystal ? 

 As his mind expands why not take him into Nature's work- 

 shop to note some of the slow and mysterious processes of 

 growth, the circling of the sap, the perfection of the flower 

 and fruit? Surely some dim wonder at the miracle which 

 binds all the forces of the universe to each tiny germ in ful- 

 filling its destiny, will till his awakening soul with as deep 

 a delight as that which in his earlier years greeted his keen 

 and eager senses. In this way the study of natural science 

 could begin without its drudgery ; the child's powers of ob- 

 servation would increase with their exercise, and the closer 

 investigation of nature about him would keep his interest 

 as fresh as it was when he first began to look and 

 listen. And so as his faculties one after the other are 

 enlisted in the delightful work, he "hearing gains who had 

 but ears, and sight who had but eyes." Is it too much to 

 sa)f that if the original love of nature, which is every child's 

 inheritance, was thus fostered and cultivated, that he would 

 never lose that instinctive delight in the natural world, but 

 that this delight would be slowly transmuted into the pos- 

 sibilities of a deeper and richer joy as maturity was 

 reached ? 



To speak of gardening as an occupation for children in 

 connection with a subject of such profound philosophy 

 would seem at first to detract from its dignity, but nature 

 has been before us and has implanted in the child the im- 

 pulse to dig, which awakens almost as early as the desire 

 to catch the sunbeam, and which is quite as vital, per- 

 haps, to its perfect development. It is the law of our 

 growth, that the finer gifts or graces can only be gained on 

 the condition that their acquirement is not the object 

 sought. Thus the child who is set to work in a garden of 

 his own as soon as he has the moderate amount of strength 

 and skill to begin the work, will glean a much richer har- 

 vest than the flowers or fruit which will be one reward of 

 his toil. We most love that for which we have made some 

 sacrifice, and, therefore, the growing things upon which 

 the child has spent his tin)'' strength will be far dearer to 

 him than the finest blooms of his father's greenhouse, while 

 his interest in their relatives of the field and forest will be 

 retained and strengthened by many associations. 



This diversion in the garden, therefore, will help to keep 

 fresh and strong the original love of nature which is the 

 child's inheritance, so that he will be more likely to carry 

 it with him into the strenuous work of manhood. So much 

 has been said already in these pages of the influence of 

 gardening upon character, that there is no need of enlarg- 

 ing upon this branch of the subject, but it may be worth 

 while to invite attention to one among the benefits to be 

 derived from early familiarity with the garden and its cul- 

 tivation, which is rarely, if ever, taken into account. The 

 child will love his garden and be happy in it. When early 

 manhood comes, and during the busier years when he 

 must test his strength in the world of men, his garden, like 

 other pleasures and interests of boyhood, will take a sub- 

 ordinate place, but in the evening of his days, after the 

 stress of his life's work is over, there will inevitably return 

 the longing to possess and transfigure some portion of the 

 earth's surface. This desire comes naturally to almost 

 every man. The idea of rest in declining years seems to 

 be inseparably connected with rural scenes. The paradise 

 to be regained is never within the walls of cities. This is 

 true even of the city-born and cit3'-bred, and it is doubly 

 true of one reared in the country, and when such a one 

 takes up with renewed interest the occupations of his boy- 

 hood he finds, to his surprise, that in addition to the flowers 

 or fruit which reward his care there is an ideal harvest of 

 associations which may make his closing years rich with 

 a beauty and a pathos all their own. Every leaf and 

 flower touches some mystic chord of memory and associa- 

 tion, and as he rests under the shelter of his Vine and Fig- 



tree the glory of that far-off time gilds his downward 

 pathway with a tender radiance and revives the spirit of 

 that early day when, 



— meadow, grove and stream, 

 The eai'lh and every common sight, 

 To him did seem appareled in celestial light. 



It appears from the seventeenth annual report of the 

 Board of Park Commissioners of the city of Boston, which 

 has just appeared, that, up to the present time, eight mil- 

 lions of dollars have been expended on the park system — 

 about three millions and a half having been devoted to the 

 purchase of land, four million three hundred thousand 

 dollars to construction, and rather less than two hundred 

 and fifty thousand dollars on maintenance. Considerable 

 progress has been made during the past year in complet- 

 ing the system, although none of the parks are yet finished, 

 with the exception of the Charles Bank, a small marine 

 esplanade on Charles Street, in the city proper. None of 

 the great parkway, which ultimately will stretch from 

 the end of Commonwealth Avenue, passing through the 

 Back Bay Fens, embracing Jamaica Pond, skirting the 

 Arnold Arboretum and Franklin Park, and finally reach 

 the marine park in South Boston, is yet open to the public. 

 This, however, will be the great feature of the system, 

 and will furnish a continuous and interesting drive of 

 about fifteen miles. Boston, in spite of the liberal expen- 

 ditures which the city has made in the last seventeen 

 years, is still very poorly provided with parks. Franklin 

 Park, of five himdred acres in extent, is the only park in 

 the whole system in the true meaning of the word, and 

 the Qnly one where large masses of people will be able to 

 find rural enjoyment and repose. Serious efforts are now 

 being made to increase the park area in eastern Massachu- 

 setts, and it is not improbable that large bodies of iniim- 

 proved forest-land, like the Middlesex Fells north of the 

 city, and the Blue Hill range south of the city, may be 

 added to the park system of greater Boston, which, if the 

 growth of the last few years is maintained, seems destined 

 to become one of the great centres of human habitation. 



The Gardens at Wellesley, Massachusetts. 



A MONG the pleasant excursions to be made in the suburbs 

 -'^ of Boston one of the easiest and most agreeable is the trip 

 to Wellesley, where there are many things to see that are of in- 

 terest to the lover of trees and gardens. The grounds of the 

 college are attractive from their fine natural capabilities, of 

 which the best is unfortunately not being made, and I hope 

 that before long the advice of some expert will be taken with 

 regard to the class-planting of trees, or great confusion will 

 result. It strikes me that if, for the present, each class should 

 celebrate its anniversary by cutting down instead of planting 

 a tree, it would perhaps be of more advantage to the pic- 

 turesque development of the property. 



The situation of the college grounds is delightful. The sur- 

 face is irregular and well wooded, and there is a beautiful lake 

 to form an attractive feature from whatever point it is ob- 

 served, but the opportunities for vistas are greatly neglected, 

 and the elevation on which the college stands is dotted all 

 over with meaningless groups of trees, which detract from the 

 dignity of the really imposing site. There is no outlook upon 

 the lake from the balcony of the main building, as tall trees 

 wholly intercept the view. If some of these are necessary for 

 shade, it seems as if it still might be possible to arrange open- 

 ings through which the lovely sheet of water might be seen, 

 and thus enhance the beauty of the outlook from the hand- 

 some hall, which would then command a delightful scene 

 from which it is now at midsummer wholly cut off. 



Another thing which struck me as particularly reprehen- 

 sible, was an ugly straight row of Copper Beeches, planted be- 

 tween the avenue and the woods. This avenue was planted 

 with taste by the original proprietor, Mr. Durant, with Elms, 

 which have attained a good size and now shade it agreeably. 

 Between this row of Elms and the dense woods on the right 

 a fine smooth stretch of grassland had been appropriately left, 

 which produced an excellent effect, but the row of small 

 purple Beeches, apparently of recent introduction, into the 

 very middle of this pleasant level green, is a great mistake and 



