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hausted lands by tree planting. As these lands have been 

 abandoned to hopeless sterility, and their reclamation has 

 already been pronounced a visionary and impracticable scheme, 

 I have shown that the experiment of reclaiming vast barrens 

 in France, Grermany, Russia, Austria and other European 

 countries, has been tried with conspicuous success. What 

 has been done on so broad a scale and with such grand results 

 in Europe surely can be accomplished in the comparatively 

 narrow barrens of the 'New England States. 



Another purpose of my journey was to do something 

 towards making our youth practical arborists by awaken- 

 ing a love of trees and an interest in their study and cul- 

 ture. From a wide field of observation, I tried to collect 

 such facts as seem fitted to further the work of rural 

 adornment, in which encouraging progress has already been 

 made in our State. A few oral lessons in our schools on 

 rural art, and especially on the beauty, variety and value 

 of trees and the ease and ways of their propagation, would 

 be as good seed sown in good ground bringing forth fruit an 

 hundred fold. Very little time would be required for those 

 school talks which would be sure to inspire an interest in the 

 study and culture of trees, and in the broader subject of rural 

 art and adornment. To all of the teachers of Connecticut in- 

 clined to give such instruction in their schools my "Economic 

 Tree Planting" will be sent without charge, at least so long as 

 the thousand copies printed for that purpose may last. 



The planting of the Syrian Willow, the supply of which fell 

 far short of the demand, was designed as a ??2ere beginmng, sure to 

 lead to something more and better, and to interest our teachers 

 and youth in the broad subject of tree-planting. Beautiful as is 

 the weeping willow, I was careful to say " I should greatly pre- 

 fer to start five thousand elms or maples if it could be done as 

 easily as my five thousand willows seem likely to be stuck in 

 the ground." While regretting that so many applicants should 

 be disappointed, I urge those who failed to get the willow (and 

 I expect the same of all who succeeded), to try the far better 

 plan of planting our common but very beautiful white ash or 

 elm, maple, white oak, tulip, American linden — or the Scotch 

 fir and European larch. I advise our boys also to raise these 



