A grove of evergreens was presented before me. Several, including myself, were laboring among them. I was bidden to closely inspect the trees and see if they were in a flourishing condition. I observed that some were being bent and deformed by the wind, and needed to be supported by stakes. I was carefully removing the dirt from the feeble and dying trees to ascertain the cause of their condition. I discovered worms at the roots of some. Others had not been watered properly and were dying from drought. The roots of others had been crowded together to their injury. My work was to explain to the workmen the different reasons why these trees did not prosper. This was necessary from the fact that trees in other grounds were liable to be affected as these had been, and the cause of their not flourishing and how they should be cultivated and treated must be made known. {1T 632.1}

En klynge stedsegrønne træer stod foran mig. Adskillige, deriblandt jeg selv, arbejdede iblandt dem. Jeg var blevet pålagt at holde øje med træerne og se efter om de var ved at blomstre. Jeg lagde mærke til at nogle var blevet bøjet og deformeret af vinden og behøvede at blive støttet af stokke. Jeg fjernede forsigtigt snavsen fra de svage og døende træer, for at forvisse mig om deres tilstand. Jeg opdagede orme ved nogles rødder. Andre var ikke blevet rigtig vandet og var ved at dø af tørke. Andres rødder var presset sammen hvilket skadede dem. Mit arbejde var at forklare arbejdsfolkene de forskellige årsager til hvorfor disse træer ikke trives. Dette var nødvendigt ud fra det faktum, at træerne på andre steder var også kunne blive angrebet ligesom disse har været og grunden til at de ikke blomstrede måtte findes og man måtte vide hvordan de skulle opdyrkes og behandles.