XXII 



EVERGEEENS 



THERE are few persons the world 

 over who have not a tender spot in 

 their hearts for Evergreens. Mother 

 Nature has hardly given us greater treasures 

 in the whole realm of plant-life, than in her 

 gift of the trees that remain green always. 

 In simimer their deep color, suggesting shad- 

 owy mysteriousness, marks them as they stand 

 against the ground of deeper color or against 

 the azure sky. In winter they give to the land- 

 scape just the note of rehef required to lift the 

 vision above the sense of the monotony of the 

 brown earth or the glare of the snowclad 

 country side. Perhaps we unconsciously asso- 

 ciate all Evergreens with the Christmas story 

 and its gladsome festivities, or it may be that 

 there runs in our blood the heritage of the 

 Norsemen, who held the Evergreen in venera- 



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