The Vashon Island record. [volume] (Vashon, Wash.) 1916-1919, 1917-03-22

| WI io AApiA phP'l lchu Wy MI. .. -.
| Harmeling at the horticultural con.
yention held in Tacoma. Feb. and 3,
1917,
Some like to live in Dixie Land
where the sweet magnolia blooms and
the live oaks and pines grow; where
the summer Is hot and the winter
damp; where so species of reptiles are
at home, many of the yenomous, in.
GLIDING the moccasin and rattlesnate ,
where few innocent-looklng clouds
come up from the gulf gather on the
land and In fifteen minutes begin
such fireworks that you would think
the heavens were being rolled togeth.
er like scroll
The monotony and dreariness of the
treeless plains is oppressive to one
who has lived in the woodland coun.
try The winter blizzard, the summer
storms of hail and thunder and the
cyclone drive some away to seek a
better country and more restful
home, while others are satisfied.
Some like the northern states where
the snow falls seven months in the
calendar year; where the wind means
in the night and the frost king splits
the trees. They like to sing: 80
silently falling the snow, snow, beau
tiful snow!" They like TO hear the
Jingle of the sleigh bells and to feel
the Jingle Of the frost.
1t is well that tastes and aspira.
tons differ and that contentment does
not altogether dwell in the environ
ment but in the soul. If 1t were other
wise we would all live in one place.
Here in this Puget Sound country
we have land that is altogether diff
ferent from any other port of the
Union in almost every respect. Here
our children may wander IN the woods
anywhere without fear of venomous
reptile or insects No one loses any
rest or sleep from thunder storms
Not a lightning rod peddler in the
land. No destructive death-dealing
cyclones. Never any hail to break
a window pane or a green house roof
No billiards or zero weather Here
winter is springtime and full of bird
song. Whether 1t be January or June
there is life and beauty everywhere.
The roseate hues of the morning
dawning upon our skies and snow
capped mountains, is repeated and in
tensifed by gold. vermilllon and erin.
son in the sunset sky, and so beauti-
full and varied is the sight that it'll
holds old and young spellbound until
it slowly fades into the pure gold of
a golden sea.
What landscapes, what views every
where! Here the great Artist has
painted for us pictures which. if we
have the eye, we may see as they
really are, The wonderful towering
mountains in the background, the pur-
pie and mauve of the rolling slopes,
the deeper shades of the giant con-
ifera and then the freshness of the
foreground. No matter what month
in the year, the coloring of our shrubs
and trees and even the grass is as
fresh and green as springtime is in
any other land
Wilhelm Miller in his excellent
book, What England Can Teach Us
About Gardening tells lis that after
his first ride into the country around
Plymouth, he threw himself down in
despair AMI said; What is the use
of trying to describe It? We can
never have such beauty Even If we
wait thousand years we can never
equal England for we do not have the
English climate He tells that when
he saw the architecture, the hollies,
the ivies, the yews and the hedges,
and then thought of our wooden
houses with their iig-saw ornaments
and gaudy paints, and the barbed wire
fences. he was ready to take the next
boat home" And then he says: "The
only place where we can practically
produce all the English effects with
English material is Oregon, for that
is about the only place that combines
a cool summer with mild winter
The Northwest can have no broad |
leaved evergreens worth mentioning"
The Northwest evidently is a terra
incognita to Prof Miller 1t Is dan
gerous to generalize without exact
knowledge. We have given Prof. Nil |