SB 483 .W28 K4 Copy 1 SB 483 ■W28 K4 Copy 1 =:^^^^^^ T\}t mag tn make lUJashwgtan Qlilg RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO MY GRAND NIECE, MISS MAY FLETCHER BECAUSE OF HER GREAT LOVE OF THE BEAUTY OF NATURE EVEN AS A CHILD COPVRIGHT1916 BY WINTER P. KE Y, W ASHINGTON , D. C AN APPP:AL to replace crooked, deformed and INCON- GRUOUS TREES OF THE WHITE HOUSE LAWN AND PUBLIC PARKS OF WASHINGTON, D. C, BY THE BEST SPECIMEN OF FRUIT AND TREE LIFE TO BE FOUND IN AMERICA OR AMERICA'S EDEN. i^^i^ei^^ To one Aviio lias made a study of trees, biislies, vines, and flowers, and the part they can be made to play in making a home in a city or suburb so as to give it that degree of beauty, dignity, or grandeur that the building and the place it occupies would seem best adapted for it, is constantly shocked by the absence of any well formed plan to select and arrange these so as to show more grace and beauty than mere brick and stone can give to a home. To those who are constantly crying out for a "Beautiful Wash- ington," let me remind them that mere houses, however beautiful in struc- ture, and .'treets, however straight and smooth, must be suj>plemented by an intelligent and well designed plan of arranging its flora, so as to make it conform to the architectural beauty of the building and grounds sur- rounding the same, as well as to the character of those who are to occu])y it, even including their nationality. No man will attempt to herd Ins sheep witli a bidldog. or hunt pheasants with a coach dog, or use a hound to draw liis snow-sleigh. Why not use the same degree of intelligence in arranging trees, shi'ubs. flowers, etc., about the house ? Let the German home be surrounded by "Unter den Linden" and the liome of the Norwegian with the spruce, but give your Vermont neighbor a yard full of sugar maples and let the Southern gentleman have his magnolia grandiflora, and who would deny to the hardy Scotchman, though in minia- ture, his rocky glen or stony clitif, familiar scene of his boyhood days, with its native ^rees and shrubs growing among them, even here in the Natioiud Capital ? Washington, D. C, is no mushroom town, to be moved when a new gold strike is made or another oil gusher is drilled, but the i)ermanent ©CI.Atl25389 JAN 18 1916 Capital of a great nation, and the trees should be hardy and long'-lived, and of a more stately eliaracter than our present ones. Too much attention is given in all our cities to planting soft wood tr<'rs that break easily in a brisk wind or storm, while their h^avis serve as a favorite food for the web catipilla. If the propagation of worms in oui- modern cities is desired, why not plant the mulberry tree and rais,^ the sill- worm, as ihere is some protit to be had in the matter of silk culture, beside ^living profitable employment to those who need it. The architect, stone masons, ai bricklayers have given our city many beautiful buildings, and these should not be marred by the presence of deformed, diseased, and maimed troes. Let the trees that surround the Congressional Library and the Corcoran Gallery of Art be such as are in keeping with their beaiity, grace, and dignity. The trees in Capitol Park and those that surround the several stately buildings on Capitol Hill can be replaced by others that will add 100 pel cent to the beauty of them, as well as giving more dignity and character to these buildings. After fretting over the unprepossessing and incongruous character of the trees in the front lawn of the White House for a ninnber of years, I secured a permit in June to take photographs of them. Not being willing, to risk my judgment in the matter, 1 got Mr. W. H. Forman, of tlie Wasli- nigton Tree Expert Co., to assist in securing photos of the beni. diseased, and ill-designed trees there. Although a lover of trees and a specialist in treating them, and^ having lived in the city for several years, he expressed hims' If profoundly astonished at their poor condition. He qiiite agreed with me that every one of them should be removed and replaced by trees that would be more nearly in keeping with the dignity of the Presidential residence. No house in the Uniteil States should be surrounded by trees of a more beautiful tyi)e and stately ai)])earance than tliose on the front lawn of the White House. This lawn shoidd be the ju'ide and joy of ever}' American and the envy of every European. ?>Iore than a century has jiassed since the City of Washington became 1 he National Capital. With the passing of the last wigwam the last incon- gruous growth of forest trees should have passed, if we are intelligent and C'ultui'ed enough to unth'rstand the tlesign God had in view in giving man .so many vai-ieties of trei s for his many uses, and use^JJ^onr intelligence to locate these trees, shrubbery, vines, etc., about our cities and homes, so as to designate both the character of the man, as well as his nationality, and thus show our refined ta.ste to its best advantage. The elm tree is essentially a tree designed by God to shade the wide streets and sidewalks of our cities, towns, and villages, or to stand alone as a giant timbrella shade tree, while the Lombardyde poplar was designed to line the roadside leading from the pretentious farm mansion on an elevation to the main thoroughfare leading to the market town. There are many localities in our cities where this stately poplar can be artistically planted, say as a i'lhadc tree on a very narrow street, or when shade is needed in the upper windows ot onr tall' office bnildings, just as those on the south front of the Carnegie Library and apartment houses. On thr east' front of one of onr local millionaire's palatial homes, the irees and shrubbery bespeak th<- home of culture and refinement, while the irees on the west side seem to be designed to shade the big log hut of some poor man, and he too lazy to care for them. The surprising thing in this case is that both conditions hav,' been produced without any design on the part of its occupants, able as they are to have both trees and shi-ubbery that will add more beauty and dignity to the appearance of their com- fortable home. I sincerely hope that the present commissioner of parks will not pirmit rhe parking between the Union Station and the Capitol building to be marred by crooked and deformed forest trees, but make it a beauty spot, the beauty and loveliness of which will not be surpassed on the contiiient, and yet nof hide any of the fine buildings now in view. That portion of the plaza lying between the Union Station and the Capitol Building can be greatly improved by selecting one or more of the largest squares — one of which should be in front of the Senate Offic ' Build- ing and the other near the station — and convert them into lakes, amply supplied with fish and swan, and their edges planted with such semi-aquatic plants and trees as will make the best show, while some of the smaller spaces should be used for the display of an almost innumerable variety of spray- ing and spouting fountains, and, when possibl", glass tubes should be employed so as to hide or keep secret, by their invisibility, the source of the water's many ^f rivolous - forms, etc. Glass bowls, many feet across, of the same whit.^ness as the water which overflows its edge, then sprays from invisible or colored glass tubes should be used to puzzle visiting friends, and ^-flfewStPinterest alike old and young. The surface of all the land should be closely sodded by blue grass, because of its richer color, and this shonld be duplicated on the White House lawn. Colored glass dams and tubes can be made to vary this scene of beauty ; indeed, fancy should here be fiet free to do her most gorgeous work, and that in the best maimer, for the cost can never equal, much less surpass, the refining effect that such a scene will have for the inspiration of a dull comprehension, much less when \iewed by a soul hungering for visions of loveliness. To-day this space, with its fringe of defori.ied trees and ugly red clay, only reminds one of a ■widow's field, and she too j) or to care for it. Shame on a rich Government fhat will permit snch a desert waste of red and yellow clay spots, where only beauty, and loveliness, if -rf grandeur of scenery, can and should be displayed in a most ravishing mani^er. The b-autifying of our mid-city ]iarks in this and th(^ many other ways that an educated fancy may dictate, will do more toward a permanent uplifl of inspiring souls than all otliei- efforts combined can do, besides chasing gualtimoiv Sun of ScptcmlxT '4 has this sav of (Tardciis- GARDENS. By the Bentztown Bard. All gardens are God's gardens; Soon or later His liand comes by to open wide tlie gate That he may sanction with His nttei- graec Eaeh vine and flower That decks tlie lov.dv place I M INTER P. KEY, 22;') I^: St. N. E LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 000 883 865 3