GETTING ACQUAINTED PFITH THE TREES 



possibilities interfere with the appreciation of 

 color, and form, and situation ! But again, to 

 come to the Arboretum some time during the 

 reign of the lilacs is to experience an even 

 greater pleasure, perhaps, for here the old farm 

 garden "laylock" assumes a wonderful diversity 

 of form and color, from the palest wands of 

 the Persian sorts to the deepest blue of some 

 of the French hybrids. 



The pines themselves will well repay any 

 investigation and appreciation. Seven species 

 are with us in the New England and Middle 

 Atlantic States, seven more are found South, 

 while the great West, with its yet magnificent 

 forests, has twenty-five pines of distinct char- 

 acter. The white pine is perhaps most famil- 

 iar to us, because of its economic importance, 

 and it is as well the tallest and most notable 

 of all those we see in the East. From its 

 first essay as a seedling, with its original clus- 

 ter of five delicate blue -green leaflets, to its 

 lusty youth, when it is spreading and broad, 

 if given room to grow, it is a fine object, 

 and I have had some thrills of joy at finding 

 this splendid common thing planted in well- 



58 



