The Cass County Republican. [volume] (Dowagiac, Mich.) 18??-1880, 1859-05-12

Let Every Man Plant Tree.
Every man, NO matter how poor he
$ may be, can do something towards
making this world more beautiful. He
can leave behind him monuments.
through which the grateful zephyrs
shah MARBLE. his praises, long after he
shall be sleeping in the dust. Are you
apoor man toiling hard for frugal fare p
You will be. more than repaid for the
labor that is required to keep the plat
before your door clean and green; and
you Will love your home the better for
thelrose which blooms in the ward
looking up in your eye, as it. were with
gratitude, through its green leaves and
blushing flowers. 1t was but the work
of half an hour to plant it there And
many year will it reward you and
your wife and your children with its
smiles. A man cannot love rose,
without being better nan for that ex-
ercise of love. A child cannot prunei
1t, and water it, and watch with .esfec-.
ton its swelling buds, without becom-
ing more gentle in character, more re-
tined in feeling, more docile in spirit.
Walter Scott in one of his graphic
descriptions, represents Scottish Lord
riding by the humble hut of peasant,
who is planting a tree before his door.
He eom1nends him for his taste, ex-
claiming, "When you have nothing
better to do Jock, be aye sticking out
tree, jock, There is no little phil
osophy IL, this declaration. You plant
atree-g i've it that gentle nurturing
which It may for short time need, and
II will ess r. after regale you with its TO-
1age and its shade. You sleep, and it
steadily dvances in its growth, to the
perfection of beauty. You go away for
months, p erhaps for years, and it forgets
not so.g1 ow, and on your return your
he art Il .ddened its fairproportions.
And o. tree is property. Who will
n OF give a few dollars more for farm
youse, ben ieath the shade of whose or
aamens2 trees his children can play, OF.
has cattle slurnber in the noon tide heat?
And how can the occupant of avillage
house ma Se a better Investment of
few dollars, th an by attaching to itthose
oruarnemts which every man of taste so
eagerly eovets.s A few green sods will
change an un slightly sand bank into
beauty, where the eye may rest
with pleasure, and where the feet may
love 20 iinger A few hours work in
spring morning, may give to your home
the richest ornaments home can have,
senpering the fierce blaze of the sum-
ner's sun, and breaking up the fury of
she winters storm. Tz
Property is worth more in beauti-
full well shaded village, than on bleak,
sunbarnt, unsightly plain. He who
has no regard for the appearance of his
own premises, not only sinks the value
of his property, but also sinks the value
of tbs property of his neighbors. No
one fixes to live in the sight of ugliness.
On the other hand, he who makes his
own home attractive, contributes to the
rising value of all the region. around
him. He is thus public benefactor,
contributing not merely to the gratifi-
cation of the tastes of those who look
upon his improvements, but adding to
the real marketable value of the prop
erty in his vicinity.
Do not think that we are here urg-
ing expense upon those who are i'll able
to afford it. No man is so poor but
that. he can afford to have a flower
ing shrub in his yard. No man is so
poor but that he can plant fsw trees
before his dwelling. No man is so
poor that he must have his pig sly at
his front door. We only contend that
every man should exercise that taste
which God has given to every man.
And though we may not be able to vie
with the rich in the grandeur of our
dwellings, the lowliest cottage may be
ernbellished with loneliness, and the
hand of industry, and of neatness may
make it a home full of attractions. Let
there once be formed in the heart OF
man, an appreciation of the beautiful
and the work is done. Year after year
with no additional expense, the scene
around him will be assuming new as
poets of beauty.
Say not, lam notthe owner of house OIL
lands and therefore have nothing to do
All are but tenents at will. Weare al
soontoleave to return no more. Where
yer you dwell, even if it be in your Owl
hired house but one short year, be sure
and leave your impress behind you-bt
sure and leave some memorial that yol
have been there. The benevolent maj
will love to plant tree, beneath whose
shade the childeen OF strangers are t.
play. 1t does the heart good to sow the
seed, when it is known that other lip.
than yours shall eat the fruit.
Neither think that this is question
without its moral issues. The love o
home, is one of the surest safeguard
of humarsvirtue. And he who make
his home so pleasant that bis childre'
love it, that IN all the wanderings o
subsequent life they turn to it with de
light, does very much to guide thei
steps away.from all the haunts of vic
and dissipation, and to form in them
kaSfn {ox- those lows vbicM arc most an