ON THE MINISTRY OF TREES 



CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER said 

 that until he saw the Annapolis at 

 low tide, he never realized how much 

 it added to the looks of a river to have 

 water in it. One might say the same thing 

 of trees in the landscape. There are, indeed, 

 some landscapes without trees; but they 

 are exceptional, desolate, or vain. 



It will not do to go too feir with this 

 rule. I love the prairies. There is inspira- 

 tion in the view where one can see for 

 twenty miles in every direction without tree 

 or shrub to arrest the eye. I remember 

 when the buffaloes were there, and an occa- 

 sional coyote, and the white-topped prairie 

 schooners crawling along the trail. A tree 

 would be a false note in that picture. Two 

 trees would ruin it. 



Nevertheless, let God be praised for 

 trees. Even the plains would lose some of 

 their charm if one could not compare them 

 with the mountains and the forests. 

 Western Kansas is beautiful partly by con- 



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