Milford chronicle., 1901-05-31
The Arnold ArbOretum n Museum Of
Living Trees.

With the spring will come the compile
ton Of the most striking example Of mu-
nicipal and scientific partnership in this
country, the Arnold arboretum Of Har-
yard university-an important link in the
great system of parks that girdle Boston
and the most notable museum Of living
trees to be seen anywhere in the world.
Twenty-Five years ago knowledge of
the character, geographical distribution
and economic and horticultural value Of
the trees of North America was frag-
mentary and mostly beyond the reach of
students. Now, as a result of the work
done at the Arnold aTboretum, under the
oversight of its director, Professor Charles
S. Sargent, it may be fairly claimed that
the trees of no other continent have been
SC carefully studied or are so well known.
Nor is this by any means all. The
trees of Japan have been a speciality of
the arboretum only less important than
the work on the North American silva.
The study of the forest resources Of the
United States in connection with the
census of 1880 was carried on at the ar
boretum, and the volume which was then
published, followed some years later by
Professor Sargent's special report as
EuuAEuldu u d EDllAllAAEG VI luE ANaLAOulA
Academy of Sciences, also dated from
the arboretum, on the necessity Of ma
tional forest parks, was the direct cause
of proclamations Of President Cleveland
and President Harrison setting aside
nearly 100000 acres Of the public do
main in permanent forest reservations.
The arboretum is an outgrowth, in a
way, of the love Of horticulture which
has made eastern Massachusetts, in spite
Of many difficulties Of climate and soil,
the garden Of the United States. Its
great estates may be said to surpass in
this respect even those in the neighbor-
hood Of Philadelphia, so long and so just
~ famous for careful cultivation and dis
eliminating taste.
The immediate foundation of the ar
boretum is due, however, to Mr.. James
Arnold, a wealthy citizen of New Bed
ford, the old time center Of the whale
fisheries, himself a lover of gardens and
trees, who left to three trustees the sum
Of 100000 to promote horticulture and
agriculture. Curiously enough, however,
the Arnold fund-increased by accumuIa-
ton OF interest to $150,000-has remain
ed the sole endowment; so that, remark.
able as the work OF the arbOretum has
been, it is all the more remarkable as a
monument, with its gardens, Its great
library and uneq1aled herbsFium, to the
self sacrificing labor OF those who have
conducted it. To a large extent the
strictly scientific work has been maintain
ed at the expense OF a little handful Of
lovers Of trees whom Mr.. Sargent has
been able personally to interest.
The browning feature Of the arboretum
Is indeed an entirely natural glory-the
Hemlocz gorge, so called. The cool, full
grown hemlocks cover a little hill, from
which they descend to the brook, which
has eaten out the ravine that cuts its
base. There are thousands in all, many
of them equal to the finest examples in
the wilderness itself and joining in a
solemnity Of shade that transports the
visitor far from all contagion Of the city.
It is indeed a bit Of primeval forest, In
the strict sense, untouched by az and un-
harmed By fire since the beginning. That
it should survive in the midst of a great
American city to become part Of a mod
ern forest museum is something that
seems too good, almost, to be true. 1t is
small wonder, at all events, that the di-
rector Of the arboretum is prouder of this
than OF anything else he has to show