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Page 4
There is one objection to the beech which also lies against the
white oak--it does not drop its leaves within the space of a few
autumn days. The bleached foliage is falling all winter long, thus
giving the ground near an untidy aspect. With some, the question
of absolute neatness is paramount; with others, leaves are clean
dirt, and their rustle in the wind does not cease to be music even
after they have fallen.
Speaking of native trees and shrubs, we shall do well to use our
eyes carefully during our summer walks and drives; for if we do,
we can scarcely fail to fall in love with types and varieties
growing wild. They will thrive just as well on the acre if
properly removed. In a sense they bring the forest with them, and
open vistas at our door deep into the heart of Nature. The tree is
not only a thing of beauty in itself, but it represents to the
fancy all its wild haunts the world over.
In gratifying our taste for native trees we need not confine
ourselves to those indigenous to our own locality. From the
nurseries we can obtain specimens that beautify other regions of
our broad land; as, for instance, the Kentucky yellow-wood, the
papaw, the Judas-tree, and, in the latitude of New Jersey and
southward, the holly.
In many instances the purchaser of the acre may find a lasting
pleasure in developing a specialty. He may desire to gather about
him all the drooping or weeping trees that will grow in his
latitude, or he may choose to turn his acre largely into a nut-
orchard, and delight his children with a harvest which they will
gather with all the zest of the frisky red squirrel. If one could
succeed in obtaining a bearing tree of Hale's paper-shell hickory-
nut, he would have a prize indeed. Increasing attention is given
to the growing of nut-trees in our large nurseries, and there
would be no difficulty in obtaining a supply.
In passing from this subject of choice in deciduous trees and
shrubs, I would suggest, in addition to visits to woods and copse,
to the well-ornamented places of men who have long gratified a
fine taste in this respect, that the reader also make time to see
occasionally a nursery like that of S.B. Parsons & Co., at
Flushing, N.Y. There is no teaching like that of the eyes; and the
amateur who would do a bit of landscape-gardening about his own
home learns what he would like and what he can do by seeing shrubs
and trees in their various stages of growth and beauty.
I shall treat the subject of evergreens at the close of this
chapter.
As a rule, I have not much sympathy with the effort to set out
large trees in the hope of obtaining shade more quickly. The trees
have to be trimmed up and cut back so greatly that their symmetry
is often destroyed. They are also apt to be checked in their
growth so seriously by such removal that a slender sapling,
planted at the same time, overtakes and passes them. I prefer a
young tree, straight-stemmed, healthy, and typical of its species
or variety. Then we may watch its rapid natural development as we
would that of a child. Still, when large trees can be removed in
winter with a great ball of frozen earth that insures the
preservation of the fibrous roots, much time can be saved. It
should ever be remembered that prompt, rapid growth of the
transplanted tree depends on two things--plenty of small fibrous
roots, and a fertile soil to receive them. It usually happens that
the purchaser employs a local citizen to aid in putting his ground
in order. In every rural neighborhood there are smart men--"smart"
is the proper adjective; for they are neither sagacious nor
trustworthy, and there is ever a dismal hiatus between their
promises and performance. Such men lie in wait for newcomers, to
take advantage of their inexperience and necessary absence. They
will assure their confiding employers that they are beyond
learning anything new in the planting of trees--which is true, in
a sinister sense. They will leave roots exposed to sun and wind--
in brief, pay no more attention to them than a baby-farmer would
bestow on an infant's appetite; and then, when convenient, thrust
them into a hole scarcely large enough for a post. They expect to
receive their money long before the dishonest character of their
work can be discovered. The number of trees which this class of
men have dwarfed or killed outright would make a forest. The
result of a well-meaning yet ignorant man's work might be equally
unsatisfactory. Therefore, the purchaser of the acre should know
how a tree should be planted, and see to it himself; or he should
by careful inquiry select a man for the task who could bring
testimonials from those to whom he had rendered like services in
the past.
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