Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1909-01-23
"Land Of The EvGrgreenS.'
Jersey City. n. j., Jan. Is, Is

Editors Messenger "A section of coun-
try is often very much helped by having
some short phrase descriptive of the
country become popular. phrase, for
example, 1.-The Sunny South" and 1.-The
Land of the Sky" as applied to certain
portions of North Carolina. 1t seems
to me that if the citizens of the lower
portion of the Eastern Shores of Mary
land and Virginia could refer to their
section as 1.-The Land of the Ever
green's it would be most helpful in
many ways. This phrase could be
printed on picture postals of views in
your section and also upon the cata-
iogues of the real estate dealers and in
other places. Besides attracting new
Corners to this section it would tend to
make the citizens of the section come
to appreciate more and more the value
of their evergreens, which have become
almost extinct along the Atlantic sea-
board north of Seaford, Delaware. |
do not believe that our people generally
understand this. well remember when
I put no particular value upon ever
greens. thinking that they must be
as plentiful everywhere as in the vicin-
ity of Pocomoke. Now they are only
plentiful, as rule, in certain inaccessi-
BILE places which the travelling public
do not see. An effort is now being
made in some places North to restore
these evergreens somewhat by the
planting of the ornamental sort in the
city parks in little clusters so as to form
little evergreen groves. ] know that
the evergreen is warm tree in sum
mer and harbors insects and is not con-
sidered an attractive shade tree for
some yards. The case however, is very
different where the yard is larger.
should like to suggest that some ever
green trees be set out in the corners
and along the fence lines of our public
schools. 1t would much improve the
appearance of these grounds in winter
when we need such things to cheer US
up. Our greatest delight comes through
the eye and not through the palate or
the ear as most people seem to think.
The most beautiful sections of the East
ern Shore in winter are those where
evergreens are plentiful and nearby and
the unattractive sections are those
where the view is extended and prairie
like. | regret that so many of our
country people seem to think they are
improving their farms by cutting what
they call openings in order to see and
to be seen. Many such openings which
| | can recall have in my opinion ma
terially lessened the beauty value of
these farms. Many foreigners. appre-
eating the beauty of evergreens, es-
pecially along the fence lines, plant
these trees freely along the fence line,
not begrudging the few feet of soil which
some of these evergreens are said to
exhaust. When | was visiting your
section in December last | was panied
to see so many boxes of holly at the
railroad station, knowing that many
holly trees had to be cut down or rnined
for the above purpose. / moreover saw
along the line of the railroad in Vir-
ginia many large holly trees which had
lately been cut down completely for
any shipment of holly at all it should
be from trees far back in the woods
which would likely not be seen by many
people We cannot afford to destroy
holly along our roadways. Your law
has been strict for years against the
shipment of game from your section
Personally would far rather see the
game killed than the evergreen trees
cut down. Let us realize now the dan
ger of our evergreen woods becoming
exterminated and try to stop the waste
by using as above some such phrase as
1.-THE Land of the Evergreens. This
will at least create favorable senti-
ment in the minds of the coming gener-
atoms. Many of our present generation
and many who have preceded us have
uncousciously been tree murderers
May the time quickly come to our Sec
ton. as it long ago came to many sec
tons in Europe, when we shall dearly
love our trees and especially our ever
greens and will be able to cut them
with such discretion as to perpetuate
rather than destroy our woods as we so
often do now. Especial care should be
exercised in preserving fine specimens
of trees along the lines of our highways
and water-courses where they can be
seen by all men.
Very truly yours,
j. S. McMASTER.