St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1896-12-04

received upon the highway, he would b
willing 10 do for his gueststhat which h
did not find it necessary to do for hin
self. Once engaged in the work Of beat
flying the roads, he would find tn
pursuit profitable and would continue
to his own lasting pleasure and advar
tage.
81 have observed that the averag
dweller in the country, as a rule, does no
see the landscape as a picture with dis
tance, middle distance and foreground
II you point out a beautiful vista. will
mist.veiled mountain peak seen through
overhauging branches rendered vague
distant and erial by contrast with tb,
rocks and heritage at your feet, he ex
presses a determination to take you to
place where you can see something.
He then conducts you to a barren hill
top, the height OF land, and bids you
look away as far as the eye ear reach,
regretting that he hasn't a spy-glass by
the aid Of which you could see still far.
ther.
First of all, then, we should look at
scenes as pictures, remembering that the
foreground is quite as important AS the
distance. These are elements Of beauty
which are interdependent, hence chop
ping down the trees and destroying the
foreground may not add to the beauty
OF the picture, but may, on the other
hand, totally destroy it.. 1t is just here
that the greatest conservatism should he
used. Never cut down a fine tree by the
roadway until you have considered it's
claims to use or beauty from every posi-
bic st~andpoint-at every season OF the
year.
'Do not put IN tx to it until youhave
consulted such OF your neighbors as you
know love trees. Remember that it
takes many years to produce a fine tree;
YOU will then be willing to give one year
to the consideration of its claims upon
your fostering are. If at last, some
doubt remains, give the tree the benefit
OF the doubt and spare it. Be sure that
If You make a mistake in DESTROYING a
noble tree you may reduce the value of
your adjoining property by more than
the worth OF your best horse or cow.
Remember, also, that in European
countries, where time has shown the
economic value Of trees to succeeding
generations, the best thought has crys-
tallized into laws which forbid their
destruction, even upon ones
OWN ground. Such laws are eminentlv
wise and humane. Variety in fairgrounds
is an important element. and in trimming
out crowded roadside growth, good
sDeclmelis of various species should be
Tor preservation, rather than
many OF the same.
Il attribute the rapidly-increasing
growth OF bushes, which, nlong reaches,
crowd upon the wheelway, shutting out
the brcezes of summer and the s%plendor
OF hill and mountain and meadow, to
the modern road-machine. No doubt, il
properly used, this machine saves labor.
The tendency, however, is to depend too
much upon it.. 1t is usually made to
along close to the wheelwav only,
returning from the gutter the loose ma
tcrial washed down by showers. This
does not unite with the solid
roadbed, and is washed back again bv
he next rain. The always aggressive
bushes, now undisturbed, gain a foot
lol6 and willquickly monopolize the soil.
The old-fashioned plough and scraper aud.
I'd by spade and hoe, used to range all
The way from the road to the fences in
ofgood serviceable road material.
bushes and shrubs should be so thin.
ned out that the entire roadway from
encc to fence would be d~lscernible be.
.wcen groups, preserving its breadth
md airiness. Conspicuously beautiful
and the wavside flow
should be encouraged. At the same
lime the entire wayside growth should
DC kept under proper restraint.
The old stump fences will
'oou vanish entirely, The stone walls of
England are eminently appropriate
md picturesque. SO MANY ele-
nents Of beauty, of interest, OF utility
md appropriateness dwell within them,
hat | earnestly protest against their
neglect which is apparent everywhere.
t may be easier to stretch a barbed wire
lbove them to repair their gaps, but how
degrading the effect
| would also call attention to the TACT
hat many of the cemeteries throughout
England present a picture of mat
ention which is painfully repulsive and
nut of tune with all that is humane and
So much for the aesthetic side of the
question and now let me quote from
About the World" in the June issue of
'cribner, 1896, showing that there is
Iso a practical advantage to be gained
treating our trees with common con.
Iteration:
ut is not difficult unless one be a lum-
king, to acquire an enthusiasm for
)rest reform. From the