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We plant trees because we love
them. Some trees linger in our memories as old friends,
from whose branches we have swung and "skinned-the-cat";
under whose cool shade we have rested from play or work.
Some trees seem to have moods, changing from day to
day, season to season, and from youth to old age.
We plant trees for their beauty
of leaf, whether green in Summer or red in the Autumn;
for their bark which becomes particularly fascinating
in Winter; for the delicate tracery of the branches
which frame our view of the eternal blue or star-scattered
heavens; for their flowers which seem like giant nosegays.
We plant trees to shelter our homes from
the Summer sun and from the cold sweeping winds of Winter.
We enjoy a touch of Nature to form a background
and a frame for our architecture.
We plant trees to furnish leaf cloisters
for the birds which awaken us from our too-late slumbers
when all the world of Nature, except ourselves, is awake.
We plant trees because, where they expand
their verdant branches the air is purer and less dusty.
The medical societies are constantly advocating the
planting of city trees to temper the heat of Summer
on the torrid pavements.
We plant forests that floods may be prevented;
that fertile soil shall not be carried to the valleys
below; that rainfall may be regulated.
We plant trees for their economic use-lumber,
furniture, turpentine, rubber, quinine, nuts, cork,
paper, windbreaks and one thousand and one uses for
which we have as yet found no substitute.
We plant avenues of trees in cities and
along the roadsides because we believe that no road
or street is dressed or finished until it has been planted
to furnish shade, frame vistas of outlying beauty, and
prevent snowdrifts.
Aside from this aesthetic and civic value,
the realtor knows that trees increase the value of property.
Business on a tree-bordered avenue is likely to be brisker
than on a sun-parched thoroughfare.
Some of us plant trees that we may be
silent witnesses to the life processes of the tree.
We enjoy pruning a tree
to our whims, improving its fruits by breeding, and
its vigor by supplying plant food.
We are interested in a
tree for pure botanical and horticultural reasons. The
strength of its woody fibers, the incomparable complexity
of its flowers, the abundance of its fruit, and the
growth processes fascinate us.
We take joy in supplying
a fit environment for a growth that approaches perfection.
- Horicultural Trade World
What Is a Tree?
What is a tree?
Well doubtless he
Who dwells in city streets by choice May never know.
But souls that breathe expanding life outdoors
Know trees as brothers, friends; and feel aglow
With kindred fellowship and common voice.
Yes, bees do know
And birds have made
The trees their lifelong homes
And what is nearer or more intimately ours than home?
What is a tree?
The soul of God!
Whose budding leaves and blossoms in the Spring
Bespeak Creation.
Whose shade in Summer cools
The burning heat of life and brings us peace;
Whose bronzing colors in the Autumn landscape glow
With pride of fruitfulness, God's bounty, man's maturity.
Whose bare strong arms in Winter steadfast hold
Against- the ice and storms of life when courage sags
When green and sap of youth have lost their bold
Firm power and interest lags.
What is a tree?
Oh! Yes, I know! 'Tis God.
'Tis His own way to speak His majesty,
His voice, His power, His love, His mystery..
-G. THoMAs DUNLOP
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