The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1895-05-18
The Preservation of Our Forest
Trees.

! The first step toward the preserva-
ton Of our forest trees that are still left
Us is to create sentiment in our men
and women Of influence that they are
worth saving If we could once make
such a sentiment popular here it would
extend with great rapifity. 1t has al
ways been matter of amazement to me
that the average American man possess
es by nature SO little real appreciation
of the picturesque value of trees grow
ing in the forest.
He will consider with some degree
of liberation the plan of planting trees
in straight rows and waiting half q cen
fury for them to grow. He loves to
trim them up high in the trunk and
give them that appearance OF symmetry
which he considers the acme of beauty.
He goes about clearing up all the uu-
der brush in the forest with a view to
what he calls Improvement. He for
gets that this underbrush is necessary
to the life of many forest trees and can
not see that it contributes in a marked
degree 20 the beauty of any group of
trees. Ii Is part of the setting like the
golden background for jewel or the
frame of an exquisite picture. Take
him to see stretch of virgin forest, I'M
touched by the destroying hands of his
kind, and instead of enjoying its beauty
as perfect gift of God he begins to
speculate upon how much it will cost to
grub it out and whether it will not be
cheaper to set fire TO it and burn the
who'd thing clean. in order to protect
the town site he means to make of the
| land.
The only legitimate conclusion is that
the education of the American man on
the esthetic value of forest trees in
their natural environment has been
sadly neglected. He thinks he can
improve on the handiwork of his Gre
ator in the matter of forests. If he will
| Weld up that concert and study the
make up of forest when he wants to
make groves and parks hr will find the
work Of the Creator is not so amiss after
| all.
| Some wears ago, New Workers decid-
ed to have city park. They had the
| land which is now Central Park. 1t
| had in the beginning little natural
! beauty. There were few if any fine
| forest trees. They placed the work I'M
! der the charge of now famous land
| cape gardener, Frederick Law Olmsted.
| The walks and drives are we'll kept and
where there is gaass it is kept smooth
| 10y lawn mowers. But in dozens Of lit
tie ravincs and on scores of hillsides
and along rustic bridge the underbrush
Is encouraged to grow in all its native
witness This more than anything
else constitutes the real sylvan beauty
of Central Park. New Workers are
proud of it and have reason to be.
We find however that the man who
planned this work went to the prim-
eval forests for his models. He was
born and bred in the country and knew
and loved natures grouping of trees
hillside and river with all the under
brush left in.
| will ask all who have interest
enough in trees and scenery to care for
the experiment to go this spring down
to the Nemadji bridge. When about a
quarter of the way across look up the
river. You see a beautiful curve in the
river with the young green of the small
trees and the undcrbrush set off by the
dark richness Of the evergrcens. Look
toward the lake you have the water, the
green of the trees on Minnesota and
Wisconsin points, the sky beyond, the
hills beyond West Superior and the
trees on the West bank of the Nemadji
river. Now imagine what it would be
with all the trees let out. Unless city
officials, citizens and lot owners all pull
together to prevent it, the trees will
soon be nearly all left out of this view.
Some efficient work might be done
with the Omaha officials to aid in pre-
serving the trees at Itasca. Nearly all
the forest trees still left in the city are
in the First and Second wards.
The city council might pass some eff
these trees.
The best work can be done by the
literary and art clubs of the city. They
could study books on landscape garden
ing. They could make it fashionable to
save the trees. Artistic grouping of
trees, shrubs and leafy uadcrbrush
would be considered an attainment, of
as much distinction as to paint on china
or TO give harmonious colOring and ar
rangement to the furnishing of a room.
Trees and forests have been intimate
ly associated with the life and literature
of all European nations. We find con-
slant reference to them IN their stories
and poems. What beautiful thoughts
and imaginings the Greeks had OF their
! trees, Can We afford to have our lives
and the lives of our children barron of
all such associations?
KATE Il. ROBERTS.