8 TH TES “AU DiU BON: BU: Lise 
The Morton Arboretum 
In recent years the movement to conserve the wooded lands 
of the country from destruction, has resulted in many public 
and private efforts which are noteworthy in their success in 
preventing the further denuding of timbered lands. The finest 
example of public conservation is that of the forest preserves 
of Cook county. Already more than twenty thousand acres of 
magnificent woodland have been taken over and are being ad- 
ministered for the people of the county. Along the north shore 
of Lake Michigan are many fine tracts belonging to private 
estates, which are not free to the public. These timbered areas 
vary greatly both in their topography and the character of the - 
tree growth, owing to varied natural causes. 

In nearly all 
prairie regions the 
best forested areas 
are found border- 
ing streams or con- 
tiguous to bodies 
of water. There 
are, however other 
natural causes 
which may from 
their effect on the 
soil conditions, re- 
sult in great tim- 
ber tracts away 
from waterways. 
The former glacial 
Photo by OrPMPPROACH TO THE ARBORETUM epochs which had 
so much effect on the shaping of land contours in Illinois, had a 
tremendous influence in furnishing suitable soil for forest growth. 
North and west of Chicago the results of glacial action are 
clearly evident to the geologist, who will tell you that the es- 
kers, kames and moraines with their varied gravel formations 
have made possible some of the finest forests in Cook, Dupage, 
Kane and Will counties. When, therefore, the gravelly glacial 
soils are watered by streams, even though small, conditions are 
ideal for the growth of luxuriant forests. 
In the valley of the east-branch of the Little Dupage river, 
in Dupage county, between the villages of Lisle on the Burling- 
ton Ry. and Glen Ellyn on the Northwestern Ry., the above 
described combination of glacial drift and stream has made a 
location ideal for the carrying out of a plan for an Arboretum 
on so large a scale that it will be, when completed, the greatest 
botanical garden in America. Joy Morton has set aside 400 
acres of the finest land on his estate for this purpose, which occu- 
pies the center and both slopes of the Little Dupage valley, 



