SOME QUESTIONS ANSWERED. 17 



the snow-like flowers of the Juneberry, or a flowering dogwood in full bloom. 

 One can hardly appreciate the beauty of the newly budded oaks, with colors 

 ranging from deep red to white. In autumn, when passing through a maple 

 grove, with its gorgeous coloring, one instinctively uncovers his head, as he 

 would in a cathedral. If one has no book, and wishes to relieve a time of wait- 

 ing, let him but think of the brilliant October foliage he has seen in northern 

 Michigan, of the birches, with their white trunks and yellow leaves; of hillsides 

 covered with scarlet sumachs; of the oaks, with their rich reds and browns; 

 of the niaples, with' their well-known tints, and imagine these bright colors 

 as they would appear against the dark background of an evergreen forest. 



It is not alone the eyes that are rested and delighted with the beauty of our 

 forests. Who does not remember the refreshing fragrance of our ,pines, 

 spruces, balsams, hemlocks and cedars? One often longs for good, deep 

 breaths from an evergreen forest as he would for a bite from a Jonathan apple 

 and he cannot be insensible to the lindens when in bloom, to the spiciness of 

 the sassafras, or to the blossoms of the thorns and the crab apples. It is not 

 merely the timber, grain, fruit, hay or vegetables which a tract of land pro- 

 duces that make it valuable. The beauty of a region often adds more to the 

 value of the land than its productiveness, and the forest is an important ele- 

 ment of this beauty. A piece ofwoods may add materiallj^ to the selling price 

 of a farm. There are cases where tree-covered areas, in combination with 

 water views and hills and valleys, give to land many times the value it would 

 have for agricultural purposes. 



Such areas are especially valuable near cities and villages, and that town 

 is indeed fortunate which can boast the possession of a tract of original forest. 

 It seems to me that I could have no better wish for the children of the future 

 than that they should enjoy native woods, with the wild flowers that should 

 go with them, as much as I enjoyed, many years ago, the unbroken forest near 

 Grand Rapids. 



The woods help to mark the seasons. In early spring we note the swelling 

 buds, and are filled with hope and joyous anticipation. A little later come 

 the young leaves, yellowish green, pink, purple, white, silvery gray, changing 

 later to the various greens of summer; the blossoms to be followed by fruits, 

 attractive in color and shape. Later still the autumn foliage far surpasses any 

 painting, and often vies with the clouds at sunset in its rich and varied effect. 

 Finally, the graceful, naked branches, outlined against the skj', or agaist the 

 dark gray of the receding forest, make pictures which many artists delight in 

 putting on canvass. 



I have known people to treat lightly a beautiful forest, or the beaut}^ of a 

 country of which it is a part. If the soil is rich, and if there is a convenient 

 market, their requirements and desires are satisfied, but I wish I could impress 

 them with the feeling which Prof. McBride had when he said: "The problem, 

 my fellow citizens, goes deep; it touches, as I think, the very perpetuity of our 

 institutions. No man can love an unbeautiful land. No people, no civilized 

 people, can long remain content when all vestage of natural beauty has been 

 removed from sight, nor can a free government rest upon an unhappy or dis- 

 contented people. The French revolution came when rural France was al- 

 most a desert. The German loves the fatherland because of its beauty. He 

 will ever bear imperial tyranny if he may but gaze upon the forest-bordered 

 streams. England is a land of parks, not in the great cities only, but every- 

 where from the Land's End to John O'Groat's, and we know what EngHshmen 

 think of England. If we wish our own people to most speedily reach the 

 maxim.um of [contented peace, we shall exert ourselves to preserve to our 

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