138 An Old-fashioned Garden 



Can we not, indeed, accommodate ourselves 

 a little more to the trees growing where Na- 

 ture planted them ? I know a village well, 

 where the houses are placed to accommodate 

 the trees that stood there when the spot was 

 a wilderness. The main street is a little 

 crooked, but what a noble street it is ! I 

 recall, as I write these lines, many a Friends' 

 meeting-house, and one country school, 

 where splendid oaks are standing near by, 

 and to those who gather daily or weekly 

 here, whether children or grown people, 

 the trees are no less dear than the buildings 

 beside them. The wanderer who revisits 

 the scenes of his childhood looks first at the 

 trees and then at the houses. Tree-wor- 

 ship, we are told, was once very prevalent, 

 and it is not to be regretted that in a modi- 

 fied form it still remains with us. 



As a pradlical matter, let me here throw 

 out the suggestion that he will be doing most 

 excellent work who saves a tree each year. 

 This is a celebration that needs no special 

 day set forth by legislative enadlment. How 

 often I have heard farmers remark, It was 

 a mistake to cut those trees down" ! Of course 

 it was. In nine cases out of ten the value 



