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diff --git a/11723-h/11723-h.htm b/11723-h/11723-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3cc2342 --- /dev/null +++ b/11723-h/11723-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7089 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Among the Trees at Elmridge, by Ella Rodman Church</title> +<style type="text/css"> + <!-- + * { font-family: Times;} + P { margin-top: .75em; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + font-size: 14pt; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + blockquote {text-align: justify; + margin-left: 15%; + margin-right: 15%;} + IMG { + BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; + BORDER-TOP: 0px; + BORDER-LEFT: 0px; + BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px } + + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; } + HR { width: 33%; } + hr.full { width: 100%; + height: 5px; } + .ind { margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10% } + .ctr { TEXT-ALIGN: center } + .right { float: right; + font-size: 10pt; + margin-top: 0em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-left: -5%; + margin-right: 0%; + TEXT-ALIGN: center } + .left { float: left; + font-size: 10pt; + margin-top: 0em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 0%; + TEXT-ALIGN: center } + a:link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:hover {color:red} + pre {font-size: 85%;} + // --> +</style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Among the Trees at Elmridge, by Ella Rodman +Church</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a> + +Title: Among the Trees at Elmridge + +Author: Ella Rodman Church + +Release Date: March 26, 2004 [eBook #11723] +[HTML version only corrected January 5, 2009] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: iso-8859-1 + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMONG THE TREES AT ELMRIDGE*** +</pre> +<br> +<br> +<center><h3>E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Charlie Kirschner,<br> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team</h3></center> +<br> +<br> +<hr class="full" noshade> +<br> +<br> +<h1>AMONG THE TREES</h1> +<h3>AT</h3> +<h2>ELMRIDGE</h2> +<h4>BY</h4> +<h3>ELLA RODMAN CHURCH</h3> +<h4>1886</h4> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> +<center><a href="#CHAPTER_I.">CHAPTER I.<br> +A SPRING OPENING.</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_II.">CHAPTER II.<br> +THE MAPLES.</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_III.">CHAPTER III.<br> +OLD ACQUAINTANCES: THE ELMS.</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IV.">CHAPTER IV.<br> +MAJESTY AND STRENGTH: THE OAK.</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_V.">CHAPTER V.<br> +BEAUTY AND GRACE: THE ASH.</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VI.">CHAPTER VI.<br> +THE OLIVE TREE.</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VII.">CHAPTER VII.<br> +THE USEFUL BIRCH.</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII.">CHAPTER VIII.<br> +THE POPLARS.</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IX.">CHAPTER IX.<br> +ALL A-BLOW: THE APPLE TREE.</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_X.">CHAPTER X.<br> +A FRUITFUL FAMILY: THE PEACH, ALMOND, PLUM AND CHERRY.</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XI.">CHAPTER XI.<br> +THE CHERRY-STORY.</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XII.">CHAPTER XII.<br> +THE MULBERRY FAMILY.</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII.">CHAPTER XIII.<br> +QUEER RELATIONS: THE CAOUTCHOUC AND THE MILK TREE.</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV.">CHAPTER XIV.<br> +HOME AND ABROAD: LINDEN, CAMPHOR, BEECH.</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XV.">CHAPTER XV.<br> +THE TENT AND THE LOCUSTS.</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI.">CHAPTER XVI.<br> +THE WALNUT FAMILY AND THE AILANTHUS.</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVII.">CHAPTER XVII.<br> +SOME BEAUTIFUL TREES: THE CHESTNUT AND HORSE-CHESTNUT.</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII.">CHAPTER XVIII.<br> +AMONG THE PINES.</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIX.">CHAPTER XIX.<br> +GIANT AND NUT PINES.</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XX.">CHAPTER XX.<br> +MORE WINTER TREES: THE FIRS AND THE SPRUCES.</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXI.">CHAPTER XXI.<br> +THE CEDARS.</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXII.">CHAPTER XXII.<br> +THE PALMS.</a><br> +<br></center> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<p class="ctr"><img src="Images/005.png" width="50%" alt= +""><br></p> +<h2>AMONG THE TREES AT ELMRIDGE.</h2> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I." id="CHAPTER_I."></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> +<br> +<h3><i>A SPRING OPENING.</i></h3> +<p>On that bright spring afternoon when three happy, interested +children went off to the woods with their governess to take their +first lesson in the study of wild flowers, they saw also some other +things which made a fresh series of "Elmridge Talks," and these +things were found among the trees of the roadside and forest.</p> +<p>"What makes it look so <i>yellow</i> over there, Miss Harson?" +asked Clara, who was peering curiously at a clump of trees that +seemed to have been touched with gold or sunlight. "And just look +over here," she continued, "at these pink ones!"</p> +<p>Malcolm shouted at the idea:</p> +<p>"Yellow and pink trees! That sounds like a Japanese fan. Where +are they, I should like to know?"</p> +<p>"Here, you perverse boy!" said his governess as she laughingly +turned him around. "Are you looking up into the sky for them? There +is a clump of golden willows right before you, with some rosy +maples on one side. What other colors can you call them?"</p> +<p>Malcolm had to confess that "yellow and pink trees" were not so +wide of the mark, after all, and that they were very pretty. Little +Edith was particularly delighted with them, and wanted to "pick the +flowers" immediately.</p> +<p class="right"><img src="Images/007.png" width="40%" alt=""><br> +<b>MALE CATKIN OF WILLOW</b></p> +<p>"They are too high for that, dear," was the reply, "and these +blossoms--for that is what they really are, although nothing more +than fringes and catkins--are much prettier massed on the trees +than they would be if gathered. The still-bare twigs and branches +seem, as you see, to be draped with golden and rose-colored veils, +but there will be no leaves until these queer flowers have dropped. +If we look closely at the twigs and branches, we shall see that +they are glossy and polished, as though they had been varnished and +then brightened with color by the painter's brush. It is the +flowing of the sap that does this. The swelling of the bark +occasioned by the flow of sap gives the whole mass a livelier hue; +hence the ashen green of the poplar, the golden green of the willow +and the dark crimson of the peach tree, the wild rose and the red +osier are perceptibly heightened by the first warm days of +spring."</p> +<p>"Miss Harson," asked Clara, with a perplexed face, "what are +catkins?"</p> +<p>"Here," said her governess, reaching from the top bar of the +road-fence for the lowest branch of a willow tree; "examine this +catkin for yourself, and I will tell you what my <i>Botany</i> says +of it: 'An ament, or catkin, is an assemblage of flowers composed +of scales and stamens or pistils arranged along a common +thread-like receptacle, as in the chestnut and willow. It is a kind +of calyx, by some classed as a mode of inflorescence (or +flowering), and each chaffy scale protects one or more of the +stamens or pistils, the whole forming one aggregate flower. The +ament is common to forest-trees, as the oak and chestnut, and is +also found upon the willow and poplar.'"</p> +<p>"It's funny-looking," said Malcolm, when he had made himself +thoroughly acquainted with the appearance of the catkin, "but it +doesn't look much like a flower: it looks more like a pussy's +tail."</p> +<p>"Yes, and that is the origin of its name. 'Catkin' is diminutive +for 'cat;' so this collection of flowers is called 'catkin,' or +'little cat.'"</p> +<p>"I think I'll call them 'pussy-tails,'" said Edith.</p> +<p>"There is a great deal to be learned about trees," said Miss +Harson, when all were comfortably seated in the pleasant +schoolroom; "and, besides the natural history of their species, +some old trees have wonderful stories connected with them, while +many in tropical countries are so wonderful in themselves that they +do not need stories to make them interesting. The common trees +around us will be our subjects at first; for I suppose that you can +scarcely tell a willow from a poplar, or a chestnut tree from +either, can you?"</p> +<p>"I can tell a chestnut tree," said Malcolm, confidently.</p> +<p>"When it is not the season for nuts?" asked his governess, +smiling.</p> +<p>There was not a very positive reply to this; and Miss Harson +continued:</p> +<p>"I do not think that any of us know as much as we ought to know +of the trees which we see every day, and of the uses to which many +of them are put, to say nothing of many familiar trees that we read +about, and even depend upon for some of the necessaries of +life."</p> +<p>"Like the cocoanut tree," suggested Clara.</p> +<p>"That is not exactly necessary to our comfort, dear," was the +reply, "for people can manage to live without cocoanuts, although +in many forms they are very agreeable to the taste, and it is only +the inhabitants of the countries where they grow who look upon +these trees as necessaries; but we will take them up in their turn. +And first let us find out what we can about the willow, because it +is the first tree, with us, to become green in the spring, and, of +that large class which is called <i>deciduous</i>, the last one to +lose its leaves."</p> +<p>"And why are they called <i>deciduous?</i>" asked Malcolm.</p> +<p>"Because they shed their leaves every autumn and are furnished +with a new set in the spring: 'deciduous' is Latin for 'falling +off.' And this is the case with nearly all our native trees and +plants. <i>Persistent</i>, or permanent, leaves remain on the stem +and branches all through the changes of season, like the leaves of +the pine and box, while <i>evergreens</i> look fresh through the +entire year and are generally cone-bearing and resinous trees. +'These change their leaves annually, but, the young leaves +appearing before the old ones decay, the tree is always +green.'"</p> +<p>"Miss Harson," said Clara, "when people talk about +<i>weeping</i> willows, what do they mean? Do the trees really cry? +I sometimes read about 'em in stories, and I never knew what they +did."</p> +<p>"They cry dreadfully," said Malcolm, "when it rains."</p> +<p>"But only as you do when you are out in it," replied his +governess--"by having the water drip from your clothes.--No, Clara, +the tree is called 'weeping' because it seems to 'assume the +attitude of a person in tears, who bends over and appears to +droop.' The sprays of this tree are particularly beautiful, and +'willowy' is often used for 'graceful,' as meaning the same thing. +Its language is 'sorrow,' and it is often seen in burial-grounds +and in mourning-pictures. 'We remember it in sacred history, +associating it with the rivers of Babylon, and with the tears of +the children of Israel, who sat down under the shade of this tree +and hung their harps upon its branches. It is distinguished by the +graceful beauty of its outlines, its light-green, delicate foliage, +its sorrowing attitude and its flowing drapery.'"</p> +<p>"Were those weeping willows that we saw to-day?" asked +Clara.</p> +<p>"No," replied her brother, quickly; "they just stuck up straight +and didn't weep a bit."</p> +<p>"They are called <i>water</i> willows," said Miss Harson, +"because they are never found in dry places. They are more common +than the weeping willow. The water willow has the same delicate +foliage and the same habit, under an April sky, of gleaming with a +drapery of golden verdure among the still-naked trees of the forest +or orchard. 'When Spring has closed her delicate flowers,' says a +bright writer, 'and the multitudes that crowd around the footsteps +of May have yielded their places to the brighter host of June, the +willow scatters the golden aments that adorned it, and appears in +the deeper garniture of its own green foliage.' A group of these +golden willows, seen in a rainstorm, will have so bright an +appearance as to make it seem as if the sun were actually +shining."</p> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/013.png"><img src="Images/013.png" +width="40%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>THE WHITE WILLOW (<i>Salix alba</i>)</b></p> +<p>"I wish we had them all around here, then," said Edith; "I like +to see the sun shining when it rains."</p> +<p>"But the sun is <i>not</i> shining, dear," replied her +governess: "it is only the reflection from the willows that makes +it look so; and we can make just such sunshine ourselves when it +rains, or when there is dullness of any sort, by being all the more +cheerful and striving to make others happy. Who loves to be called +'Little Sunshine'?"</p> +<p>"I do," said the child, caressing the hand that had patted her +rosy cheek.</p> +<p>"Let's all be golden willows," said Malcolm, in a comical way +that made them laugh.</p> +<p>Miss Harson told him that he could not make a better attempt +than to be one of those home-brighteners who bring the sunshine +with them, but she added that such people are always considerate +for others. Malcolm wondered a little if this meant that <i>he</i> +was not, but he soon forgot it in hearing the many things that were +to be said of the willow.</p> +<p>"The family-name of this tree is <i>Salix</i>, from a word that +means 'to spring,' because a willow-branch, if planted, will take +root and grow so quickly that it seems almost like magic. 'And they +shall <i>spring up</i> as among the grass, as willows by the +watercourses,' says the prophet Isaiah, speaking of the children of +the people of God. The flowers of the willow are of two kinds--one +bearing stamens, and the other pistils--and each grows upon a +separate plant. When the ovary, at the base of the pistil, is ripe, +it opens by two valves and lets out, as through a door, multitudes +of small seeds covered with a fine down, like the seeds of the +cotton-plant. This downy substance is greedily sought after by the +birds as a lining for their nests, and they may be seen carrying it +away in their bills. And in some parts of Germany people take the +trouble to collect it and use it as a wadding to their winter +dresses, and even manufacture it into a coarse kind of paper."</p> +<p>"What queer people!" exclaimed Clara. "And how funny they must +look in their wadded dresses!"</p> +<p>"They are not graceful people," was the reply, "but they live in +a cold climate and show their good sense by dressing as warmly as +possible. It was quite a surprise, though, to me to find that the +willow was of use in clothing people. The more we learn of the +works of God, the better we shall understand that last verse of the +first chapter of the Bible: 'And God saw everything that he had +made, and behold, it was very good.' The bees, too, are attracted +by the willow catkins, but they do not want the down. On mild days +whole swarms of them may be seen reveling in the sweets of the +fresh blossoms. 'Cold days will come long after the willow catkins +appear, and the bees will find but few flowers venturesome enough +to open their petals. They have, however, thoroughly enjoyed their +feast, and the short season of plenty will often be the means of +saving a hive from famine.'"</p> +<p>"Are willow baskets made of willow trees?" asked Malcolm.</p> +<p>"Yes," said Miss Harson. "Basket-making has been a great +industry in England from the earliest times; the ancient Britons +were particularly skillful in weaving the supple wands of the +willow. They even made of these slender stems little boats called +'coracles,' in which they could paddle down the small rivers, and +the boats could be carried on their shoulders when they were +walking on dry land."</p> +<p>"Just like our Indians' birch-bark canoes," said Malcolm, who +was reading about the North American Indians. "But isn't it +strange, Miss Harson, that the Indians and the Britons didn't get +drowned going out in such little light boats?"</p> +<p>"Their very lightness buoyed them up upon the waves," was the +reply; "but it does seem wonderful that they could bear the weight +of men. The willow, however, was also used by the Romans in making +their battle-shields, and even for the manufacture of ropes as well +as baskets. The rims of cart-wheels, too, used to be made of +willow, as now they are hooped with iron; so, you see, it is a +strong wood as well as a pliant one. The kind used for +basket-making is the <i>Salix viminalis</i>, and the rods of this +species are called 'osiers.' Let us see now what this English book +says of the process of basket-making:</p> +<p>"'The quick and vigorous growth of the willow renders it easy to +provide materials for this branch of industry. Osier-beds are +planted in every suitable place, and here the willow-cutter comes +as to an ample store. Autumn is the season for him to ply his +trade, and he cuts the willow rods down and ties them in bundles. +He then sets them up on end in standing water to the depth of a few +inches. Here they remain during the winter, until the shoots, in +the following spring, begin to sprout, when they are in a fit state +to be peeled. A machine is used in some places to compress the +greatest number of rods into a bundle.</p> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/019.png"><img src="Images/019.png" +width="40%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>THE POLLARD WILLOW IN WINTER.</b></p> +<p>"'Aged or infirm people and women and children can earn money by +peeling willows at so much per bundle. The operation is very +simple, and so is the necessary apparatus. Sometimes a wooden bench +with holes in it is used, the willow-twigs being drawn through the +holes. Another way is to draw the rod through two pieces of iron +joined together, and with one end thrust into the ground to make it +stand upright. The willow-peeler sits down before his instrument +and merely thrusts the rod between the two pieces of iron and draws +it out again. This proceeding scrapes the bark off one end, and +then he turns it and fits it in the other way; so that by a simple +process the whole rod is peeled. When the rods are quite prepared, +they are again tied up in bundles and sold to the +basket-makers.'"</p> +<p>"But how do they make the baskets?" asked Clara and Edith. "That +is the nicest part."</p> +<p>"There is little to tell about it, though," said their +governess, "because it is such easy work that any one can learn to +do it. You saw the Indian women making baskets when papa took us to +Maine last summer, and you noticed how very quickly they did it, +beginning with the flat bottom and working rapidly up. It is a +favorite occupation for the blind, and one of the things which are +taught them in asylums."</p> +<p>"I wonder," said Malcolm, "if there is anything else that can be +done with the willow?"</p> +<p>"Oh yes," replied Miss Harson; "we have not yet come to the end +of its resources. It makes the best quality of charcoal, and in +many parts of England the tree is raised for this express purpose. +'The abode of the charcoal-burner,' says an English writer, 'may be +known from a distance by the cloud of smoke that hovers over it, +and that must make it rather unhealthy. It is sometimes a small +dome-shaped hut made of green turf, and, except for the difference +of the material, might remind us of the hut of the Esquimaux. +Beside it stands a caravan like those which make their appearance +at fairs, and that contains the family goods and chattels. A string +of clothes hung out to dry, a water-tub and a rough, shaggy dog +usually complete the picture.'"</p> +<p>"But how can people live in the hut," asked Malcolm, "if the +charcoal is burned in it? Ugh! I should think they'd choke."</p> +<p>"They certainly would," said his governess; "for the +charcoal-smoke is death when inhaled for any length of time. But +the charcoal-burner knows this quite as well as does any one else, +and he makes his fire outside of the house, puts a rude fence +around it and lets it smoke away like a huge pipe. The hut is more +or less enveloped in smoke, but this is not so bad as letting it +rise from the inside would be. A great deal of willow charcoal is +made in Germany and other parts of Europe."</p> +<p>"But, Miss Harson," said Clara, in a puzzled tone, "I don't see +what they do with it all. It doesn't take much to clean people's +teeth."</p> +<p>"No, dear," was the smiling reply, "and I am afraid that the +people who make it are rather careless about their teeth.--You need +not laugh, Malcolm, because it is 'just like a girl,' for it is +quite as much like a boy not to know things which he has never been +taught, and you must remember that you have two years the start of +your sister in getting acquainted with the world. Perhaps you will +kindly tell us of some of the uses to which charcoal is +applied?"</p> +<p>"Well," said the young gentleman, after an awkward silence, "it +takes lots of it to kindle fires."</p> +<p>"I do not think that Kitty ever uses it in the kitchen," said +Miss Harson, "for she is supplied with kindling-wood for that +purpose. You will have to think of something else."</p> +<p>But Malcolm could not think, and his governess finally told him +that a great deal of charcoal is used for making gun-powder, and +still more for fuel in France and the South of Europe, where a +brass vessel supplies the place of a grate or stove. Quantities of +it are consumed in steel-and iron-works, in preserving meat and +other food, and in many similar ways. The children listened with +great interest, and Malcolm felt sure that the next time he was +asked about charcoal he would have a sensible answer.</p> +<p>"Our insect friends the aphides, or plant-lice, are very fond of +the willow," continued Miss Harson, "and in hot, dry weather great +masses of them gather on the leaves and drop a sugary juice, which +the country-people call 'honey-dew,' and in some remote places, +where knowledge is limited, it has been thought to come from the +clouds. But we, who have learned something about these +aphides<a name="FNanchor1" id="FNanchor1"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_1">[1]</a>, know that it comes from their little green +bodies, and that the ants often carry the insects off to their +nests, where they feed and 'tend them for the sake of this very +juice. The aphis that infests the willow is the largest of the +tribe, and the branches and stems of the tree are often blackened +by the honey-dew that falls upon them."</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_1" id="Footnote_1"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor1">[1]</a> See <i>Flyers and Crawlers</i>, by the author. +Presbyterian Board of Publication.</blockquote> +<p>"Do willow trees grow everywhere?" asked Clara.</p> +<p>"They are certainly found in a great many different places," was +the reply, "and even in the warmest countries. In one of the +missionary settlements in Africa there is a solitary willow that +has a story attached to it. It was the only tree in the +settlement--think what a place that must have been!--except those +the missionary had planted in his own garden, and it would never +have existed but for the laziness of its owner. Nothing would have +induced any of the natives to take the trouble to plant a tree, and +therefore the willow had not been planted. But it happened, a +long-time ago, that a native had fetched a log of wood from a +distance, to make into a bowl when he should feel in the humor to +do so. He threw the log into a pool of water, and soon forgot all +about it. Weeks and months passed, and he never felt in the humor +to work. But the log of wood set to work of its own accord. It had +been cut from a willow, and it took root at the bottom of the pool +and began to grow. In the end it became a handsome and flourishing +tree."</p> +<p>This story was approved by the young audience, except that it +was too short; but their governess laughingly said that, as there +was nothing more to tell, it could not very well be any longer.</p> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/026.png"><img src="Images/026.png" +width="40%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>THE WEEPING WILLOW (<i>Salix Babylonica</i>).</b></p> +<p>"The weeping willow," continued Miss Harson, "was first planted +in England in not so lazy a way, but almost as accidentally. Many +years ago a basket of figs was sent from Turkey to the poet Pope, +and the basket was made of willow. Willows and their cousins the +poplars are natives of the East; you remember that the one hundred +and thirty-seventh psalm says of the captive Jews, 'By the rivers +of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered +Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.' +'The poet valued highly the small slender twigs, as associated with +so much that was interesting, and he untwisted the basket and +planted one of the branches in the ground. It had some tiny buds +upon it, and he hoped he might be able to rear it, as none of this +species of willow was known in England. Happily, the willow is very +quick to take root and grow. The little branch soon became a tree, +and drooped gracefully over the river in the same manner that its +race had done over the waters of Babylon. From that one branch all +the weeping willows in England are descended.'"</p> +<p>"And then they were brought over here," said Malcolm. "But what +odd leaves they have, Miss Harson!--so narrow and long. They don't +look like the leaves of other trees."</p> +<p>"The leaf is somewhat like that of the olive, only that of the +olive is broader. The willow is a native of Babylon, and the +weeping willow is called <i>Salix Babylonica</i>. It was considered +one of the handsomest trees of the East, and is particularly +mentioned among those which God commanded the Israelites to select +for branches to bear in their hands at the feast of tabernacles. +Read the verse, Malcolm--the fortieth of the twenty-third chapter +of Leviticus."</p> +<p class="left"><a href="Images/028.png"><img src="Images/028.png" +width="20%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>LEAF OF WEEPING WILLOW.</b></p> +<p>Malcolm read:</p> +<p>"'And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly +trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and +<i>willows of the brook;</i> and ye shall rejoice before the Lord +your God seven days.'"</p> +<p>"A place called the 'brook of the willows,'" added his +governess, "is mentioned in Isaiah xv. 7, and this brook, according +to travelers in Palestine, flows into the south-eastern extremity +of the Dead Sea. The willow has always been considered by the poets +as an emblem of woe and desertion, and this idea probably came from +the weeping of the captive Jews under the willows of Babylon. The +branches of the <i>Salix Babylonica</i> often droop so low as to +touch the ground, and because of this sweeping habit, and of its +association with watercourses in the Bible, it has been considered +a very suitable tree to plant beside ponds and fountains in +ornamental grounds, as well as in cemeteries as an emblem of +mourning."</p> +<p>"How much there is to remember about the willow!" said Clara, +thoughtfully. "I wonder if all the trees will be so +interesting?"</p> +<p>"They are not all <i>Bible</i> trees," replied Miss Harson. "But +the wise king of Israel found them interesting, for he 'spake of +trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop +that springeth out of the wall.'"</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II." id="CHAPTER_II."></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<h3><i>THE MAPLES.</i></h3> +<br> +<p>"The pink trees next, I suppose," said Malcolm, "since we have +had the yellow ones?"</p> +<p>"<i>Real</i> pink trees?" asked Edith, with very wide-open +eyes.</p> +<p>"No, dear;" replied her governess; "there are no pink trees, +except when they are covered with bloom like the peach trees. +Malcolm only means the maples that we saw in blossom yesterday and +thought of such a pretty color. There are many varieties of the +maple, which is always a beautiful and useful tree, but the red, or +scarlet, maple is the very queen of the family. It is not so large +as are most of the others; but when a very young tree, its grace +and beauty are noticeable among its companions. It is often found +in low, moist places, but it thrives just as well in high, dry +ground; and it is therefore a most convenient tree. Here is a very +pretty description, Malcolm, in one of papa's large books, that you +can read to us."</p> +<p>Malcolm read remarkably well for a boy of his age, and he always +enjoyed being called upon in this way.</p> +<p class="ctr"><img src="Images/031.png" width="40%" alt=""><br> +<b>THE RED MAPLE.</b></p> +<p>Miss Harson pointed to these lines:</p> +<p>"Coming forth in the spring, like morning in the east, arrayed +in crimson and purple; bearing itself, not proudly but gracefully +in modest green, among the more stately trees in summer; and ere it +bids adieu to the season stepping forth in robes of gold, +vermilion, crimson and variegated scarlet,--stands the queen of the +American forest, the pride of all eyes and the delight of every +picturesque observer of nature, the red maple."</p> +<p>"Why, I never saw such a tree as that!" exclaimed Clara, in +great surprise.</p> +<p>"Yes, dear," replied her governess; "you have seen it, but you +never thought of describing it to yourself in just this way. When +you saw it yesterday, it was coming forth in the spring, like +morning in the east, arrayed in crimson and purple,' but you just +called it a pink tree. It is much nearer red, however, than it is +pink."</p> +<p>"I've seen all the rest of the colors, too," said Malcolm, "when +we went out after nuts."</p> +<p>"That is its autumn dress," said Miss Harson, "although a small +tree is often seen with no color on it but brilliant red. But first +we must see what it is like in spring and summer. It is also called +the scarlet, the white, the soft and the swamp maple, and the +flowers, as you see from this specimen, are in whorls, or pairs, of +bright crimson, in crowded bunches on the purple branches. The +leaves are in three or five lobes, with deep notches between, and +some of them are very broad, while others are long and narrow. The +trunk of the red maple is a clear ashy gray, often mottled with +patches of white lichens; and when the tree is old, the bark cracks +and can be peeled off in long, narrow strips."</p> +<p>"Is anything done with the bark?" asked Clara.</p> +<p>"Yes, it is used, with other substances, for dyeing, and also +for making ink. The sap, too, can be boiled down to sugar, but it +is not nearly so rich as that of the proper sugar-maple. The wood, +which is very light-colored with a tinge of rose in it, is often +made into common furniture, as it takes a fine polish and is easy +to work with. It is used, too, for building-purposes. The +early-summer foliage of the red maple is of a beautiful yellow +green, and the young leaves are very delicate and airy-looking; but +the graceful tree is in such a hurry to display her gay autumn +colors that she will often put on a scarlet or crimson streamer in +July or August. One brilliantly-colored branch will be seen on a +green tree, or the leaves of an entire tree will turn red while all +the other trees around it are clothed in summer greenness."</p> +<p>"Don't you remember, Miss Harson," said Edith, "the little tree +that I thought was on fire and how frightened I was?"</p> +<p>"Yes, dear, I remember it very well--an innocent little red +maple that <i>would</i> put on its flame-colored dress when it +should have been all in green, like its sisters; but it was too +green at heart to be in a blaze. This tree is often used for fuel, +but it has to be cut down and dried first. The reddening of the +leaf generally begins at the veins and spreads out from them until +the whole is tinted. Sometimes it appears in spots, almost like +drops of blood, on the green surface; but, come as it will, it is +always beautiful. It is said of the red maple that 'it stands among +the occupants of the forest like Venus among the planets--the +brightest in the midst of brightness and the most beautiful in a +constellation of beauty,'"</p> +<p class="right"><img src="Images/035.png" width="50%" alt=""><br> +<b>THE SILVER-LEAF MAPLE.</b></p> +<p>"Is there such a thing as a silver tree?" asked Clara.</p> +<p>"There is a tree called 'the silver maple,'" was the reply, "and +there is also the silver poplar. The silver maple is considered the +most graceful of the large and handsome maple family. I have not +told you, I think, that the name of the family is <i>Acer</i>, +which means 'sharp' or 'hard,' and it was supposed to have been +given in old English times when the wood of the maple was used for +javelins. The silver maple gets its name from the whitish +under-surface of its leaves, and it is a favorite shade-tree; it +has a slender trunk and long, drooping branches. The foliage is +light and rather dull-looking, and it is not a very bright tree in +autumn. The leaves are so deeply notched that they have a +fringe-like appearance, and this, with its slender form and +bending, swaying habit, gives it a very graceful look."</p> +<p>Little Edith wished to know "if the wood was like silver," and +Malcolm asked her how she expected it to grow if it was.</p> +<p>But Miss Harson replied kindly,</p> +<p>"The silver, dear, is all in the leaves, and there is not much +of it there. The wood is white and of little use, as it is soft and +perishable; but the beauty of the finely-cut foliage, the contrast +between the green of the upper surface of the leaves and the silver +color of the lower, and the magnificent spread of the limbs of the +white maple, recommend it as an ornamental tree; and this is the +purpose for which it is intended. It is used very largely in the +cities for shade and beauty. It is often called the 'river maple,' +because it is so frequently seen on the banks of streams."</p> +<p>"And now," said Malcolm, "I hope there is ever so much about the +maple-sugar tree. Can't we get some this spring, Miss Harson, +before it's all gone?"</p> +<p>"We can certainly buy the sugar in town, Malcolm, if that is +what you mean; but it does not grow on the trees in cakes, and we +shall scarcely be able to tap the trunks and go through with the +process of preparing the sap, even if it were not too late for +that. We will do what we can, though, to become acquainted with the +rock maple, that we may be able to recognize it when we see it. +When young, it is a beautiful, neat and shapely tree with a rich, +full leafy head of a great variety of forms. It is the largest and +strongest of the maples, and gives the best shade. It can be +distinguished from the other members of the family by its leaves, +in which the notch between the lobes is round instead of being +sharp, and also by their appearing at the same time with the +blossoms, which are of a yellowish-green color. The green tint of +the leaves is darker on some trees than it is on others, and in +autumn they become, often before the first touch of the frost, of a +splendid orange or gold, sometimes of a bright scarlet or crimson, +color, each tree commonly retaining from year to year the same +color or colors, and differing somewhat from every other. The most +beautiful and valuable maple-wood is taken from this tree. It is +known as 'curled maple' and 'bird's-eye maple,' and the common +variety looks like satin-wood. In the curled maple the fibres are +in waves instead of in straight lines, and the surface seems to +change with alternate light and shade; in the bird's-eye, irregular +snarls of fibres look like roundish projections rising from hollow +places, each one resembling the eye of a bird. Buckets, tubs and +many useful things are made of the straight variety, and for lasts +it is considered better than any other kind of wood. The curled and +the bird's-eye are largely used for furniture."</p> +<p>"But isn't it a shame," said Clara, "to spoil the maple-sugar by +making the trees into chairs and things?"</p> +<p>"You would not think so," replied her governess, "if you needed +the 'chairs and things' more than you need the sugar. But the +supply of trees seems to be sufficient for both purposes."</p> +<p>"Does the sugar come right out of the tree when people tap on it +with a hammer?" asked Edith, whose ideas of sugar-making were +rather crude.</p> +<p>"You blessed baby!" cried Malcolm, with a shout of laughter. +Let's take our hammers and go after some maple-sugar right +away."</p> +<p>"No, Edie," said Miss Harson as she took her much-loved little +pupil on her lap; "we'll stay at home and learn just how the sugar +is made. To <i>tap</i> a tree, dear, means to make cuts in the +trunk for the sap to flow out, and in the sugar-maple this sap is +more like water than sugar. From the middle of February to the +second week in March, according to the warmth or the coldness of +the locality, is the time for tapping the trees; and when the holes +are bored, spouts of elder or sumac from which the pith has been +taken are put into them at one end, while the other goes down to +the bucket which receives the sap. 'Several holes are so bored that +their spouts shall lead to the same bucket, and high enough to +allow the bucket to hang two or three feet from the ground, to +prevent leaves and dirt from being blown in.' The next thing is to +boil the sap, and this is done in great iron kettles, over immense +wood-fires, out there among the trees, with plenty of snow on the +ground, and only two or three rude little cabins for the men and +boys to sleep in. This is called 'the sugar-camp,' and the +sap-season lasts five or six weeks."</p> +<p>"And why is it boiled?"</p> +<p>"Boiling drives the water off in vapor, and leaves the sugar +behind in the pot."</p> +<p>"And do they stay in the woods there all the time?" asked +Malcolm, with great interest. "What lots of fun they must have, +with the big fires and the snow and as much maple-sugar as ever +they want to eat! <i>I'd</i> like to stay in a sugar-camp in the +woods."</p> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/041.png"><img src="Images/041.png" +width="40%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>MAKING MAPLE SUGAR.</b></p> +<p>"Perhaps not, after trying it and finding how much hard work +there is in sugar-making," replied his governess. "'The kettles +must be carefully watched and plenty of wood brought to keep them +boiling, and during the process the sap, or syrup, is strained; +lime or salaeratus is added, to neutralize the free acid; and the +white of egg, isinglass or milk, to cause foreign substances to +rise in a scum to the surface. When it has been sufficiently +boiled, the syrup is poured into moulds or casks to harden.' The +sugar with which the most pains have been taken is very +light-colored, and I have seen it almost white."</p> +<p>"Have you ever been to a sugar-camp, Miss Harson?" asked Clara, +who was wishing, like Malcolm, that she could go to one +herself.</p> +<p>"Yes," said Miss Harson; "I did go once, in Vermont, when the +family with whom I was staying took me to see the 'sugaring off.' +This is putting it into the pans and buckets to harden after it has +been sufficiently boiled and clarified; and we younger ones, by way +of amusement, were allowed to make jack-wax."</p> +<p>"Oh!" exclaimed three voices at once; "what is that? Is it good +to eat?"</p> +<p>"I thought it particularly good," was the reply, "and I am quite +sure that you would agree with me. To make it, we poured a small +quantity of hot syrup on the snow to cool; and when it was fit to +eat, it was just like wax, instead of being hard like the cakes in +moulds. It took only a few minutes, too, to make it, and it seemed +a great deal nicer because we did it ourselves. I remember that it +was the last of March and very cold, but there were big fires to +get warmed at, and we had a delightful time."</p> +<p>"Were there any Indians there, Miss Harson?" asked little Edith, +after being quiet for some time. Vermont was such a long way off on +the map, besides being up almost at the top, that Indians and bears +and all sorts of wild things seemed to have a right to live +there.</p> +<p>"No," said her governess, smiling at the question; "I did not +see one, even at the sugar-camp. Yet the Indians made maple-sugar +long before we knew anything about it, and from them the white +people learned how to do it."</p> +<p>"Well, that's the funniest thing!" exclaimed Malcolm. "I thought +that Indians were always scalping people instead of making +maple-sugar."</p> +<p>"They did a great many other things, though, besides fighting, +and their life was spent so much out of doors that they studied the +nature of every plant and living thing about them. The +healing-properties of some of our most valuable herbs were first +discovered by the Indians, and, as they never had any +grocery-stores, the presence of trees that would supply them with +sugar was a blessing not likely to be neglected. The devoted +missionary John Brainerd first heard of this tree-sugar from them, +and it is said that he used to preach to them when they were thus +peacefully employed, and obtained a better hearing than at other +times."</p> +<p>"Have we any maple-sugar trees?" asked Clara.</p> +<p>"No," replied Miss Harson; "there are none at Elmridge, and I +have seen none anywhere near here. They seem to flourish best in +the Northern and North-eastern States, while in Western Canada the +tree is found in groves of from five to twenty acres. These are +called 'sugar-bushes,' and few farmers in that part of America are +without them. In England the maple trees are called 'sycamores,' +and the sap is used as a sweet drink. I will read to you from a +little English book called <i>Voices from the Woodlands</i> a +simple account of a country festival where maple sap was the +choicest refreshment:</p> +<p>"'"Take care of that young tree," said Farmer Robinson to his +laborer, who was diligently employed in clearing away a rambling +company of brambles which had grown unmolested during the time of +the last tenant; "the soil is good, and in a very few years we +shall have pasturage for our bees, and plenty of maple-wine."</p> +<p>"'The farmer spoke true; before his young laborer had attained +middle age the sapling had grown into a fine tree. Its branches +spread wide and high, and bees came from all parts to gather their +honey-harvests among the flowers; beneath its shade lambkins were +wont in spring to sleep beside their dams; and when the time of +shearing came, and the sheep were disburdened of their fleeces, you +might see them hastening to the sycamore tree for shelter.</p> +<p>"'A kind of rustic festival was held about the same time in +honor of the maple-wine. Hither came the farmer and his dame, with +their children and young neighbors, each carrying bunches of +flowers. Older people came in their holiday dresses, some with +baskets containing cakes, others tea and sugar, with which the +farmer and his wife had plentifully supplied them; and joyfully did +they rest a while on the green sward while young men gathered +sticks, and, a bright fire having been kindled, the kettle sent up +its bubbling steam.</p> +<p>"'When this was ended, and few of the piled-up cakes +remained--when, also, the young children had emptied their cans and +rinsed them at the old stone trough into which rushed a full +stream--tiny hands joyfully held up the small cans and bright eyes +looked anxiously to the stem of the tall tree while the farmer +warily cut an incision in the bark.</p> +<p>"'What joy when a sweet watery juice began to trickle! and the +farmer filled one small cup, then another, till all were satisfied +and a portion sent to the older people, who were contentedly +looking on from the grassy slope where they had seated themselves. +The farmer's wife knew naught concerning the process for obtaining +sugar, or else she might have sweetened her children's puddings +from the watery liquid yielded by the sycamore, or greater +maple--an art well known to the aboriginal tribes of North +America.'"</p> +<p>"Does that mean Indians, Miss Harson?" asked Malcolm, with a wry +face at the long word.</p> +<p>"Yes," was the reply; "and I hope that you will feel properly +grateful to these aborigines whenever you eat maple-sugar."</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III." id="CHAPTER_III."></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<h3><i>OLD ACQUAINTANCES: THE ELMS.</i></h3> +<br> +<p>Miss Harson had admonished her little flock that they must use +their own eyes and be able to tell her things instead of depending +altogether on her to tell them; so now they were all peering +curiously among the trees to see which were putting on their new +spring suits. The yellow trees and the pink trees had been readily +distinguished, but, although the others had not been idle, it was +not so easy for little people to discern their leaf-buds.</p> +<p>Clara soon made a discovery, however, of what her governess had +noticed for a day or two, and the wonder was found on their own +home-elms, those stately trees which had shaded the house ever +since it was built, and from which the place got its pretty +name--Elmridge.</p> +<p>"Well, dear," said Miss Harson, coming to the upper window from +which an eager head was thrust, "what is it that you wish me to +see?"</p> +<br> +<p>"Those funny flowers on the bare elm trees," was the reply. +"Look, Miss Harson! Didn't I see them first?"</p> +<p>"You have certainly spoken of them first, for neither Malcolm +nor Edith has said anything about them. But they must both come up +here now, where they can see them, and Malcolm and I can manage to +reach some of the blossoms by getting out of the broad window on to +the little balcony."</p> +<p>Up came the two children kangaroo-fashion in a series of jumps, +and presently Miss Harson was holding a cluster of dark +maroon-colored flowers in her hand.</p> +<p>"How queer and dark they make the trees look!" said Malcolm; +"and they're so thick that they 'most cover up the branches. +They're like fringe."</p> +<p>"A very good description," replied his governess. "And now I +wish you all to examine the trees very thoroughly and tell me +afterward what you have noticed about them; then we will go down to +the schoolroom and see what the books will tell us in our talk +about the American elm and its cousin of England."</p> +<p>The books had a great deal to tell about them, but Miss Harson +preferred to hear the children first.</p> +<p>"What did my little Edith see when she looked out of the +window?" she asked.</p> +<p>"Stems of trees," was the reply, "with flowers on 'em."</p> +<p>"A very good general idea," continued Miss Harson, "but perhaps +Clara can tell us something more particular about the elms?"</p> +<p>"They are very tall," said Clara, hesitatingly, "and they make +it nice and shady in summer; and some of the branches bend over in +such a lovely way! Papa calls one of them 'the plume.'"</p> +<p>"And now Malcolm?"</p> +<p>"The trunk--or big 'stem,' as Edie would call it--is very thick, +and the branches begin low down, near the ground."</p> +<p>"Some of them do," said his governess, "but many of the elms on +your father's grounds are seventy feet high before the branches +begin. Sometimes two or three trunks shoot up together and spread +out at the top in light, feathery plumes like palm trees. The elm +has a great variety of shapes; sometimes it is a parasol, when a +number of branches rise together to a great height and spread out +suddenly in the shape of an umbrella. This makes a very +regular-looking and beautiful tree. For about three-quarters of the +way up, the 'plume' of which Clara speaks has one straight trunk, +which then bends over droopingly. Small twigs cluster around the +trunk all the way from bottom to top and give the tree the +appearance of having a vine twining about it. I think that the +plume-shape is the prettiest and most odd-looking of all the elms. +Another strange shape is the vase, which seems to rest on the roots +that stand out above the ground. 'The straight trunk is the neck of +the vase, and the middle consists of the lower part of the branches +as they swell outward with a graceful curve, then gradually diverge +until they bend over at their extremities and form the lip of the +vase by a circle of terminal sprays.'"</p> +<p>"Have we any trees that look like vases, Miss Harson?" asked +Clara.</p> +<p>"Yes," was the reply; "not far from Hemlock Lodge there is one +which we will look at when the leaves are all out. But you must not +expect to find a perfect vase-shape, for it is only an approach to +it. The dome-shaped elm has a broad, round head, which is formed by +the shooting forth of branches of nearly equal length from the same +part of the trunk, which gradually spread outward with a graceful +curve into the roof or dome that crowns the tree."</p> +<p>"I know something else about our elms," said Malcolm: "some of +the roots are on top of the ground. Isn't that very queer, Miss +Harson?"</p> +<p class="ctr"><img src="Images/053.png" width="40%" alt=""><br> +<b>WYCH-ELM LEAVES.</b></p> +<p>"Not for old elm trees, as this is quite a habit with them. +Indeed, in many ways, the elm is so entirely different from other +trees that it can be recognized at a great distance. It is both +graceful and majestic, and is the most drooping of the drooping +trees, except the willow, which it greatly surpasses in grandeur +and in the variety of its forms. The green leaves are broad, ovate, +heart-shaped, from two to four or five inches long. You can see +their exact shape in this illustration. Their summer tint is very +bright and vivid, but it turns in autumn to a sober brown, +sometimes touched with a bright golden yellow, And now," continued +Miss Harson, "we will examine the flowers which we have here, and +we see that each blossom is on a green, slender thread less than +half an inch long, and that it consists of a brown cup parted into +seven or eight divisions, rounded at the border and containing +about eight brown stamens and a long compressed ovary surmounted by +two short styles. This ripens into a flattened seed-vessel before +the leaves are fully out, and the seeds, being small and chaffy, +are wafted in all directions and carried to great distances by the +wind."</p> +<p>"Where does slippery elm come from?" asked Clara.</p> +<p>"From another American species, dear, which is very much like +the white elm that we have been considering. The slippery elm is a +smaller tree, does not droop so much, and the trunk is smoother and +darker. The leaves are thicker and very rough on the upper side. +The inner bark contains a great deal of mucilage--that, I suppose, +is the reason for its being called 'slippery'--and it has been +extensively used as a medicine. The wood is very strong and +preferred to that of the white elm for building-purposes, although +the latter is considered the best native wood for hubs of wheels. +There is a great elm tree on Boston Common which is over two +hundred years old, and another in Cambridge called the 'Washington +Elm,' because near it or beneath its shade General Washington is +said to have first drawn his sword on taking command of the +American army. In 1744 the celebrated George Whitefield preached +beneath this tree."</p> +<p>"I'm glad we have elm trees here," said Malcolm, "though I +s'pose nobody ever did anything in particular under ours."</p> +<p>"You mean," replied his governess, laughing, "that they are not +<i>historical</i> trees; but they are certainly very fine ones. +There is another species of elm, the English, which is often seen +in this country too. It is a very large and stately tree, but not +so graceful as our own elm. It is distinguished from the American +elm by its bark, which is darker and much more broken; by having +one principal stem, which soars upward to a great height; and by +its branches, which are thrown out more boldly and abruptly and at +a larger angle. Its limbs stretch out horizontally or tend upward +with an appearance of strength to the very extremity; in the +American elm they are almost universally drooping at the end. Its +leaves are closer, smaller, more numerous and of a darker color. In +England this tree is a great favorite with those black and solemn +birds the rooks. The poet Hood writes of it as</p> +<blockquote>"'The tall, abounding elm that grows<br> + In hedgerows up and down,<br> +In field and forest, copse and park,<br> + And in the peopled town,<br> +With colonies of noisy rooks<br> + That nestle on its crown.'<br></blockquote> +<p>"Some of these English elms are very ancient and of an immense +size; one of them, known as the 'Chequer Elm,' measures thirty-one +feet around the trunk, of which only the shell is left. It was +planted seven hundred years ago. The Chipstead Elm is fifteen feet +around; the Crawley Elm, thirty-five. A writer says, 'The ample +branches of the Crawley Elm shelter Mayday gambols while troops of +rustics celebrate the opening of green leaves and flowers. Yet not +alone beneath its shade, but within the capacious hollow which time +has wrought in the old tree, young children with their posies and +weak and aged people find shelter during the rustic +<i>fêtes</i>.'"</p> +<p>"Does that mean that people can sit inside the tree?" asked +Clara. "I wish we had one to play house in where Hemlock Lodge +is."</p> +<p>"That is one of the things, Clara," replied Miss Harson, "that +people can have only in the place where they grow. In the South of +England there is another great elm tree with a hollow trunk which +has fitted into it a door fastened by a lock and key. A dozen +people can be comfortably accommodated inside, and there is a story +told of a woman and her infant who lived there for a time."</p> +<p>"What a funny house!" said Malcolm. "Just like a +woodpecker's."</p> +<p>"Another great elm, near London, has a winding staircase cut +within it, and a turret at the top where at least twenty persons +can stand. One species of this tree, called the <i>wych-</i>, or +<i>witch-</i>, elm, was believed by ignorant people to possess +magical powers and to defend from the malice of witches the place +on which it grew. Even now it is said that in remote parts of +England the dairymaid flies to it as a resource on the days when +she churns her butter. She gathers a twig from the tree and puts it +into a little hole in the churn. If this practice were neglected, +she confidently believes that she might go on churning all day +without getting any butter."</p> +<p>"Isn't that silly?" exclaimed Clara.</p> +<p>"Very silly indeed," replied her governess; "but we must +remember that the poor ignorant girl knows no better. The wood of +the European elm is stronger than ours; it is hard and +fine-grained, and brownish in color, and is much used in the +building of ships, for hubs of wheels, axletrees and many other +purposes. In France the leaves and shoots are used to feed cattle. +In Russia the leaves of one variety are made into tea. The inner +bark is in some places made into mats, and in Norway they kiln-dry +it and grind it with corn as an ingredient in bread. So that the +elm tree is almost as useful as it is beautiful."</p> +<p class="ctr"><img src="Images/059.png" width="40%" alt= +""><br></p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV." id="CHAPTER_IV."></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<h3><i>MAJESTY AND STRENGTH: THE OAK</i>.</h3> +<br> +<p>"Here," said Miss Harson, "is a small branch from an oak tree +containing the young leaves and the catkins, which come out +together; for the oak belongs, like the willow and the maple, to +the division of <i>amentaceous</i> plants."</p> +<p>"Oh dear!" sighed Clara at the hard name.</p> +<p>But Malcolm repeated:</p> +<p>"<i>Amentaceous</i>--<i>ament</i>. I know, Miss Harson: it's +<i>catkins</i>"</p> +<p>"Yes, it means trees which produce their flowers in catkins, or +looking as if strung on long drooping stems; and the oak is the +monarch of this family, and in Great Britain of all the +forest-trees. It is especially an English tree, although our woods +contain several varieties. But they do not hold the pre-eminence in +our forests that the oaks do in those of England. The oak +ordinarily runs more to breadth than to height, and spreads itself +out to a vast distance with an air of strength and grandeur. This +is its striking character and what gives it its peculiar +appearance. Oaks do not always go straight out, but crook and bend +to right and left, upward and downward, abruptly or with a gentle +sweep.</p> +<p class="ctr"><img src="Images/061.png" width="40%" alt=""><br> +<b>MALE CATKIN OF THE OAK.</b></p> +<p class="ctr"><img src="Images/062.png" width="40%" alt=""><br> +<b>THE OAK.</b></p> +<p class="right"><img src="Images/063.png" width="40%" alt=""><br> +<b>WHITE-OAK LEAF.</b></p> +<p>"The white oak is the handsomest species, and takes its name +from the very light color of the bark on the trunk, by which it is +easily known. The leaves are long in proportion to the width and +deeply divided into lobes, of which there are three or four on each +side. There is a great variety in the shape of oak-leaves, those of +our white oak being long and slender, while the red oak has very +broad ones, and the foliage of the scarlet oak is almost +skeleton-like. The chestnut oak has leaves almost exactly like +those of the chestnut. The acorns of the different varieties, too, +differ in size and shape.</p> +<p>"There is so much to be said of the oak," continued Miss Harson, +"it is such an ancient and venerable tree and has so many stories +attached to it, that it is not easy to begin an account of it. The +blossoms, perhaps, will be the best starting-point: and I should +like to have you examine this branch and tell me if you see any +difference in the blossoms."</p> +<p>"They are nearly all alike," said Malcolm, "but here at the ends +of the twigs are one or two that look like buds."'</p> +<p>"That is just what I wanted you to notice," replied his +governess, "for the flowers are of two kinds, one bearing the +stamens, and the other the pistils. The flowers that bear the +stamens grow on loose scaly catkins, as you may see in this branch. +Those with the pistils are also in catkins, but very small, like a +bud. The bud spreads into a little branchlet and bears the flowers +at the tip. The calyx is not seen at first; it is a mere membrane +covering the ovary. By degrees the ovary swells into the acorn and +the membrane becomes part of the shell."</p> +<p>"I like acorns," said little Edith, "they're so nice to play +with."</p> +<p>"But they're not nice to eat," said Clara.</p> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/065.png"><img src="Images/065.png" +width="40%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>SQUIRREL AND ACORN.</b></p> +<p>"Some animals think they are," continued Miss Harson. "If you +should come here in October, you would find the squirrels feasting +on them. In old times in England the oaks were valued highly on +account of their acorns, and great herds of swine were driven into +the forests to feed upon them. In the time of the Saxons a crop of +acorns often formed a part of the dowry bestowed upon the Saxon +queens, and the king himself would be glad to accept a gift or +grant of acorns; and the failure of the crop would be considered as +a kind of famine. In those days laws were made to protect the oaks +from being felled or injured, and a man who cut down a tree under +the shadow of which thirty hogs could stand was fined three pounds. +The herds of swine were placed under the care of a swineherd, whose +sole employment was to keep them together, and they formed a staple +part of the riches of the country. But when the Norman kings began +to rule, they brought with them a passionate love of hunting and +took possession of the forests as preserves for their favorite +sport. The herds of swine were forbidden to roam about as +heretofore, and their owners were reduced to poverty in +consequence."</p> +<p>"Wasn't that wicked, Miss Harson?" asked Malcolm.</p> +<p>"Yes; it was both unjust and cruel, and it was one of the great +grievances of the nation. Even at this day the laws for the +protection of game are one of the grounds of ill-feeling on the +part of the poor toward the nobles. In Spain the acorns have the +taste of nuts, and are sold in the markets as an article of food. +They grow abundantly in the woods and forests. Once, in time of +war, a foreign army subsisted almost entirely on them. Herds of +swine range the forests in Spain and feed luxuriously upon acorns, +and the salted meats of Malaga, that are famous for their delicate +flavor, are thought to owe it to this cause. Some of our American +Indians depend upon acorns and fish for their winter food; and when +the acorns drop from the tree, they are buried in sand and soaked +in water to draw out the bitter taste."</p> +<p>"I shouldn't like them," said Clara, with a wry face at the +thought of such food.</p> +<p>"Well, dear," replied her governess, laughing, "as you are not +an Indian, you will probably not be called upon to like them; but +it would be better to eat acorns than to starve. You may have +noticed the trunk and branches of the oak are often gnarled and +knotted, and this helps to give the tree its appearance of great +strength. It is just as strong as it looks, and for +building-purposes it lasts longer than any other wood. Beams and +rafters of oak are found in old English houses, showing among the +brick-work, and many of these half-timbered houses, as they are +called, were built hundreds of years ago.</p> +<p>"Bedsteads and other articles of furniture, too, were 'built' in +those days, rather than made, for they were not expected to be +moved about; and a heavy oak bedstead is still in existence which +is said to have belonged to King Richard III. It is curiously +carved, and the king rested upon it the night before the battle of +Bosworth Field, where he was killed. Clumsy as the bedstead was, he +took it about with him from place to place; but after the fatal +battle it passed into the hands of various owners, and nothing +remarkable was discovered about it until the king had been dead a +hundred years. By that time the bedstead had come into the +possession of a woman who found a fortune in it. One morning, says +the story, as she was making the bed, she heard a chinking sound, +and saw, to her great delight, a piece of money drop on the floor. +Of course she at once set about examining the bedstead, and found +that the lower part of it was hollow and contained a treasure. +Three hundred pounds--a fortune in those days--was brought to +light, having remained hidden all those years. As King Richard was +not there to claim his gold, the woman quickly possessed herself of +it. But, as it happened, she had better have remained in ignorance +and poverty. As soon as the matter became known one of her servants +robbed her of the gold, and even caused her death. Thus it was said +in the neighborhood that 'King Richard's gold' did nobody any +good."</p> +<p>The children were very much pleased with this story, and Malcolm +said that he always liked to hear about people who found gold and +things.</p> +<p>"I think that I do, myself," replied Miss Harson, "although, as +in this poor woman's case and in many others, gold is not the best +thing to find. It often brings with it so much sorrow and sin as to +be a curse to its owner. The only safe treasure is that laid up in +heaven, where 'neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where +thieves do not break through nor steal,'</p> +<p>"From the very earliest times the oak has been used for +shipbuilding. The Saxons, we are told, kept a formidable fleet of +vessels with curved bottoms and the prow and poop adorned with +representations of the head and tail of some grotesque and fabulous +creature. King Alfred had many vessels that carried sixty oars and +were entirely of oak. A vessel supposed to be of his time has been +discovered in the bed of a river in Kent, and after the lapse of so +many centuries it is as sound as ever and as hard as iron."</p> +<p>"Do oak trees ever have apples on 'em?" asked Clara. "In a story +that I read there was something about 'oak-apples.'"</p> +<p class="left"><img src="Images/070.png" width="30%" alt=""><br> +<b>THE OAK-GALL INSECT<br> +(<i>Cynips</i>).</b></p> +<p>"They are not apples such as we eat, or fruit in any sense," +said her governess. "They are the work of a species of fly called +<i>Cynips</i>, which is very apt to attack the oak. 'The female +insect is armed with a sharp weapon called an <i>ovipositor</i>, +which she plunges into a leaf and makes a wound. Here she lays her +eggs; and when she has done so, she flies away and we hear no more +of her. But the wound she has made disturbs the circulation of the +sap. It flows round and round the eggs as though it had met with +some foreign body it would fain remove. Very soon the eggs are in +the midst of a ball-like and fleshy chamber--the most suitable +provision for them, and one which the parent-insect had provided by +means of puncturing the leaf. As the eggs are hatched the grubs +will find themselves safely housed and in the midst of an abundance +of food.'"</p> +<p class="right"><img src="Images/071.png" width="40%" alt=""><br> +<b>OAK-APPLES.</b></p> +<p>"Well," exclaimed Malcolm, in great disgust, "<i>apple</i> is a +queer name for a ball full of little flies!"</p> +<p>"It's a very pretty ball, though," said Miss Harson, "with a +smooth skin and tinged with red or yellow, like a ripe apple. If it +is cut open, a number of granules are seen, each containing a grub +embedded in a fruit-like substance. The grub undergoes its +transformation, and in due course emerges a perfect insect. These +pretty pink-and-white apples used to be gathered by English boys on +the twenty-ninth of May, which was called 'Oak-Apple Day.'"</p> +<p>"Did they eat 'em?" asked Edith.</p> +<p>"I do not see how they could, dear," was the reply; "they were +probably gathered just to look at. Yet 'May-apples,' which grow, +you will remember, on the wild azalea and the swamp honeysuckle, +are often eaten, and they are formed in the same way; so we will +not be too positive about the oak-apples."</p> +<p>"What are oak-<i>galls</i>, Miss Harson?" asked Malcolm. "Are +they the same as oak-apples?"</p> +<p>"Not quite the same," was the reply, although both are produced +by the same insect. This is what one of our English books says of +them: 'When the acorn itself is wounded, it becomes a kind of +monstrosity, and remains on the stalk like an irregularly-shaped +ball. It is called a "nut-gall," and is found principally on a +small oak, a native of the southern and central parts of Europe. +All these oak-apples and nut-galls are of importance, but the +latter more especially, and they form an important article of +commerce. A substance called "gallic acid" resides in the oak; and +when the puncture is made by the cynips, it flows in great +abundance to the wound. Gallic acid is one of the ingredients used +in dyeing stuffs and cloths, and therefore the supply yielded by +the nut-gall is highly welcome. The nut-galls are carefully +collected from the small oak on which they are found, the Pyreneean +oak. It is easily known by the dense covering of down on the young +leaves, that appear some weeks later than the leaves of the common +oak. The galls are pounded and boiled, and into the infusion thus +made the stuffs about to be dyed are dipped,'"</p> +<p>"I should think," said Clara, "that people would plant oak trees +everywhere, when they are so useful. Is anything done with the +bark?"</p> +<p>"Yes," said her governess; "the bark, which is very rough, is +valuable for tanning leather and for medicine. The element which +has the effect of turning raw hide or skin into leather is called +<i>tannin</i>; it is also found in the bark of some other trees and +in tropical plants."</p> +<p>"Didn't people use to worship oak trees," asked Malcolm--"people +who lived ever so long ago?"</p> +<p>"You are thinking of the Druids, who lived in old times in +Britain and Gaul," replied Miss Harson, "and whose strange heathen +rites were practiced in oak-groves; and they really did consider +the tree sacred. These Druids have left their traces in some parts +of England and France in rows of huge stones set upright; and +wherever an immense stone was found lying on two others, in the +shape of a table, there had been a Druid altar, where the priest +offered sacrifices, often of human beings. So horrible may be a +so-called religion that men themselves devise, and that has not +come from the true God.</p> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/075.png"><img src="Images/075.png" +width="40%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>DRUIDIC SACRIFICE.</b></p> +<p>"It was an article in the Druids' creed, and one to which they +strictly adhered, that no temple with a covered roof was to be +built in honor of the gods. All the places appointed for public +worship were in the open air, and generally on some eminence from +which the moon and stars might be observed; for to the heavenly +bodies much adoration was offered. But to afford shelter from wind +or rain, and also to ensure privacy and shut out all external +objects, the place fixed upon, either for teaching their disciples +or for carrying out the rites of their idolatrous worship, was in +the recess of some grove or wood. An oak-grove was supposed to be +the favorite of the gods whom they ignorantly worshiped, and +therefore the Druids declared the oak to be a sacred tree. The +Druid priest always bound a wreath of oak-leaves on his forehead +before he would perform any religious ceremony. One of these +ceremonies was to go in search of the mistletoe, which sometimes +grows on the oak and was considered as sacred as the tree itself, +being much used in their worship. One priest would climb to the +branch on which the misletoe was growing and cut it with a golden +knife, while another priest stood below and held out his white robe +to receive it.</p> +<p>"These sacred groves were all cut down by the Romans, who waged +fierce war against the Druids, and nothing is left of them now but +the circles of stones that formed their temples. At a place called +Stonehenge, 'cromlechs,' or altar-tables, are still standing, and +very ancient oaks stood in a circle round these stones for many +centuries after the Druids were swept away."</p> +<p>"Miss Harson," said Clara when all had expressed their horror of +the Druids and rejoiced that they <i>were</i> swept away, "are +there any oak trees in the Bible?"</p> +<p>"Look and see," was the reply; "and first you may find Genesis +xxxv. 4."</p> +<p>Clara read:</p> +<p>"'And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in +their hands, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and +Jacob hid them under the <i>oak</i> which was by Shechem.'"</p> +<p>"In the eighth verse of the same chapter," said Miss Harson, "we +read that Rebekah's nurse was buried under an oak at Bethel. We are +told in the book of Joshua<a name="FNanchor2" id= +"FNanchor2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2">[2]</a> that 'Joshua took a +great stone and set it up there under an <i>oak</i>, that was by +the sanctuary of the Lord;' and in Judges<a name="FNanchor3" id= +"FNanchor3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3">[3]</a>, 'There came an angel +of the Lord and sat under an <i>oak</i> which was in +Ophrah.'--Malcolm, you may read Second Samuel, eighteenth chapter, +ninth verse."</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_2" id="Footnote_2"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor2">[2]</a> Josh. xxiv. 26.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_3" id="Footnote_3"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor3">[3]</a> Judg. vi. II.</blockquote> +<p>Malcolm read:</p> +<p>"'And Absalom met the servants of David. And Absalom rode upon a +mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great +<i>oak</i>, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken +up between the heaven and the earth; and the mule that was under +him went away.'"</p> +<p>"Poor Absalom!" said Edith, softly. "Wasn't that dreadful?"</p> +<p>"Yes, dear," replied her governess, "it <i>was</i> dreadful; but +it is still more dreadful that Absalom was such a wicked man. In +Isaiah<a name="FNanchor4" id="FNanchor4"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_4">[4]</a> we read of the oaks of Bashan, that, like the +cedars of Lebanon, were 'high and lifted up,' and the oaks of +Bashan are mentioned again in Zechariah<a name="FNanchor5" id= +"FNanchor5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5">[5]</a>. Several varieties of +the oak are found in Palestine.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_4" id="Footnote_4"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor4">[4]</a> Isa. ii. 13.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_5" id="Footnote_5"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor5">[5]</a> Zech. xi. 2.</blockquote> +<p class="ctr"><img src="Images/079.png" width="40%" alt=""><br> +<b>ABRAHAM'S OAK, NEAR HEBRON.</b></p> +<p>"In his <i>Ride Through Palestine</i>, Dr. Dulles tells of a +great oak near Hebron known as 'Abraham's oak,' supposed to occupy +the ground where the patriarch pitched his tent under the oaks of +Mamre. It is an aged tree, and a grand one. Here is a picture of +it, from the <i>Ride</i><a name="FNanchor6" id= +"FNanchor6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6">[6]</a>. The crests and sides +of the hills beyond the Jordan are still clothed, as in ancient +times, with magnificent oaks.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_6" id="Footnote_6"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor6">[6]</a> See page 85.(link to 079.PNG)</blockquote> +<p>"We get a good idea of the strength and durability of this wood +from the fact that there is an old wooden church near Ongar, in +Essex, the nave of which is composed of half logs of oak roughly +fastened by wooden pegs. The ancient fabric dates back to the time +of King Edmund, who was slain by the robber Leolf in the year A.D. +946. The oaken church was hurriedly put together--according to +report--in order to make a temporary receptacle for the body of the +murdered prince on its way to burial. Be that as it may, it was +afterward used as a parish church, and, though the oaken logs are +corroded by the weather, they are still sound, and, having been +beaten by the storms of a thousand winters, bid fair to defy those +of a thousand more."</p> +<p>"I should think, then," said Malcolm, "that people would always +build their houses with oak if it lasts so long."</p> +<p>"Yet they do not do this even in England," was the reply, "where +the trees grow to such an immense size and the ancient buildings +still in existence prove the great endurance of the oak. Now brick +and stone and iron are used, which outlast any wood. And now," +continued Miss Harson, "I am going to tell you something about a +foreign species of this tree which I am sure will surprise you. It +is found in the South of Europe and in Algeria, and is called the +<i>cork oak</i>."</p> +<p>"'The <i>cork</i> oak'!" exclaimed Clara, quite as much +surprised as she was expected to be. "Do the corks that come in +bottles grow on it?"</p> +<p>"Not just in that shape, dear, but they are made from its bark. +The outside bark, or <i>epidermis</i>, consists of a thin, +transparent, tissue-like substance, which covers not only the bark, +but the whole of the tree, stem, leaves and branches, and beneath +the epidermis is found a layer of cellular tissue, generally green. +It covers the trunk and branches, fills up the spaces between the +veins of the leaves and contains the sap, which flows in canals +arranged for it in the most beautiful and wonderful manner. In one +species of oak this layer--which is called the +<i>suber</i>--assumes a peculiar character and is of remarkable +thickness. When the tree is some five years old, its whole energy +is directed toward the increase of the suber. A mass of cells is +formed with great rapidity, and layer upon layer is added, until +that part of the trunk grows so unwieldy that it would crack and +split of its own accord. But such a thing is rarely allowed to +happen: the suber is of too much value to man. After it is taken +from the tree and has undergone due preparation, it appears in our +shops and houses under the name of <i>cork</i>"</p> +<p>"I should like to see how they get it," said Malcolm.</p> +<p>"The trunk is regularly marked around in deep cuts, which begin +close to the branches and go down almost to the roots. A ladder is +used to mount to the upper part of the trunk, and the cuts, or +incisions, are made with a long knife or with an axe. Then they +strip off the sheets of cork between the circles. This operation is +a very delicate one, and requires much care and skill lest the +inner part should be injured. If the operation is carried out +successfully, the cork-like substance will grow again and become as +abundant as ever.</p> +<p>"The next thing to be done to the pieces of bark is partially to +burn, or char, them, and also to make them quite flat, as they come +from the trunk in a rounded shape. The burning makes the pores +close up, so that the liquid in a vessel for which it is used as a +stopper cannot come through; and this is done over a brisk fire, in +what is called a <i>burning-yard</i>. Another process, called +<i>rounding</i>, removes every trace of the fire, unless the cork +has been too much burned, and then, having already been flattened +by the pressure of heavy stones, it is ready for the cork-maker, +who cuts the material first into strips and then into squares +according to the size of corks wanted.</p> +<p>"Cork is very light and elastic, and can be used successfully in +contrivances for the rescue of men from the perils of the deep. The +cork jacket and the lifeboat have been the means of saving many +lives, for cork will float on the surface of the water and bear up +the person wearing the jacket and the shipwrecked people in the +lifeboat. 'The shallowness of the boat and the bulk of cork within +allow but little room for water; so that even when filled it is in +no danger of overturning or sinking, like other crafts. Also, the +lifeboat can move across the waves with perfect safety, and can +make its way from one object to another in a broken sea as easily +as an ordinary boat can pass from one ship to another.'"</p> +<p>The children declared that the cork-oak was the best tree of +all, but they agreed with their governess that the entire oak +family was made up of grand and useful trees.</p> +<p>"Our American oaks," said Miss Harson, "are very handsome in +autumn because of their brilliant foliage; the <i>scarlet oak</i>, +which turns to a deep crimson and keeps its leaves longer than any +of the other forest trees, is the most showy of the species. But we +have no cork oaks, and no oaks that we know to be a thousand years +old. There was once a famous oak in this country, called the +'Charter Oak,' which fell to the ground in August, 1856, before any +of us were born. I wonder if you would like to hear the story about +it?"</p> +<p>This question was thought extremely funny by three such +devourers of stories as the little Kyles, and they eagerly assured +their governess that they would like it.</p> +<p>"If that is really the case," continued Miss Harson, smiling at +the excited faces, "I must tell you the history of</p> +<p>"THE CHARTER OAK.</p> +<p>"This tree grew in Hartford, Connecticut, and it is said that +before the English governor Wyllis went there to live his steward, +whom he had sent on before to get a house ready for him, came near +cutting down this very oak. He was clearing away the trees around +it on the hillside when a party of Indians appeared and begged him +to leave that particular tree, because, they said, 'it had been the +guide of their ancestors for centuries.' So the oak was spared; +even then it was old and hollow.</p> +<p>"King Charles II. granted the people of Connecticut a very +liberal charter of rights, which was publicly read in the Assembly +at Hartford and declared to belong for ever to them and their +successors. A committee was appointed to take charge of it, under a +solemn oath that they would preserve this palladium of the rights +of the people.</p> +<p>"When James II., the tyrannical brother of Charles II., came to +the throne, he changed the government of New England and ordered +the people of Connecticut to give up their charter. This they +refused to do; and when a third command from the king had been sent +to them, they called a special meeting of the Assembly, under their +own governor, Treat, and resolved to hold on to the charter which +had been given them.</p> +<p>"On the 31st of October, 1687, Sir Edmund Andros, attended by +members of his council and a bodyguard of sixty soldiers, entered +Hartford to take the charter by force. The General Assembly was in +session; he was received with courtesy, but with coldness. He +entered the assembly-room and publicly demanded the charter. +Remonstrances were made, and the session was protracted till +evening. The governor and his associates appeared to yield. The +charter was brought in and laid upon the table. Sir Edmund thought +that he had succeeded, when suddenly the lights were all put out, +and total darkness followed. There was no noise, no conflict, but +all was quiet. When the candles were again lighted, <i>the charter +was gone</i>! Sir Edmund was disconcerted. He declared the +government of Connecticut to be in his own hands, and that the +colony was annexed to Massachusetts and the other New England +colonies, and proceeded to appoint officers. Captain Jeremiah +Wadsworth, a patriot of those times, had hidden the charter in the +hollow of Wyllis's oak, whence it was afterward known as the +Charter Oak."</p> +<p>"Then the English governor couldn't get it!" exclaimed Malcolm, +delightedly. "Wasn't that splendid?"</p> +<p>"It was a grand hiding-place, certainly, for no one would think +of looking inside a tree for such a thing as that, and they were +grand men who preserved their country's liberties in those trying +times. But more peaceful years were at hand. About eighteen months +after the charter had disappeared so mysteriously, the tyrant James +II. was compelled to give up his throne to his daughter and +son-in-law, the prince and princess of Orange, and Governor Treat +and his associates again took the government of Connecticut under +the old charter, which the hollow oak had faithfully kept from +harm. No tree in our whole country has received more attention than +this historic Hartford oak; and when, at last, its mere shell of a +trunk was laid low by a storm, it seemed as if a large part of the +city had been swept away.</p> +<p>"Ancient oaks are apt to be almost entirely without branches; +the huge trunk, with an opening at the top, and often with one also +at the bottom, stands like a maimed giant, just tottering, perhaps, +to its fall, because of the decay going on within, while outside +all seems fair and sound. It was so with the Charter Oak; and when +this monarch of the forest was unexpectedly laid low, rich and +poor, great and small, were gathered to mourn its loss. A dirge was +played and all the bells in the city were tolled at sundown, for +this monument of the past was a link gone that could not be +replaced."</p> +<p>"Thank you, Miss Harson," said Clara; "<i>true</i> stories are +so nice! But I wish I had seen the Charter Oak before it was blown +down."</p> +<p>"You could not have done that, dear," was the reply, "unless you +had been born about thirty years sooner."</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V." id="CHAPTER_V."></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> +<h3><i>BEAUTY AND GRACE: THE ASH</i>.</h3> +<br> +<p>"What tree comes next, Miss Harson?" asked Clara, on an April +day that was mild enough for the piazza. "You told us so many +interesting things about the oak that I suppose we needn't expect +to hear of another tree like that."</p> +<p>"No," was the reply; "not just like that, perhaps, for the oak +is grand and venerable above all our familiar trees, but the ash, +which is more especially an American tree, belongs to a large and +interesting family, and I am quite sure that you will very much +like to hear something about it. I have put it next to the oak +because there is a sort of rivalry between the two as to which can +get on its spring dress the soonest, and an old English rhyme +says,</p> +<blockquote>"'If the oak's before the ash,<br> +Then you may expect a splash;<br> +But if the ash is 'fore the oak,<br> +Then you must beware a soak.'"<br></blockquote> +<p>"That must mean," said Malcolm, after considering this rather +puzzling verse, "that it'll rain any way."</p> +<p>"I think it does," replied Miss Harson, with a smile at +Malcolm's air of deep thought, "and it is quite safe to say that in +England. But, as 'a soak' sounds more serious than 'a splash,' it +is to be hoped that the ash will not get ahead of the oak. I do not +know what they are doing in England this year, but here the oak is +a day or two ahead. The foliage of the ash is entirely different, +as it has <i>pinnate</i> leaves, which means leaves arranged in two +rows, one on each side of a common stem, or <i>petiole</i>, +like--What, Clara?"</p> +<p>"Rose-leaves," was the prompt reply.</p> +<p>"And leaves of the locust trees on the other side of the road," +added Malcolm.</p> +<p class="ctr"><img src="Images/092.png" width="40%" alt=""><br> +<b>THE COMMON ASH.</b></p> +<p>"And the sumac," said their governess, "and a number of others +that might be mentioned. This kind of foliage is always graceful, +and the ash is one of our largest and handsomest trees. It is said +to be more common in America than in any other part of the globe. +In Europe, because of its beauty, it is called the painter's tree. +It is a particularly neat and regular-looking tree, and its smooth +gray trunk is higher than that of most trees before any branches +appear. Where is there a tree on the grounds answering this +description, Malcolm?"</p> +<p class="right"><img src="Images/093.png" width="40%" alt=""><br> +<b>AMERICAN WHITE ASH.</b></p> +<p>"Down at the end of the vegetable-garden," was the reply, "and +close beside the laundry."</p> +<p>"Yes; you are really learning to distinguish trees very well. +There are several species--the white, red, black and mountain ash. +The white ash is a graceful tree, rising in the forest to the +height of seventy or eighty feet, with a straight trunk and a +diameter of three feet or more at the base. On an open plain it +throws out its branches, with a gentle double curvature, to a +distance on every side, and forms a broad, round head of great +beauty. The flowers of the ash are greenish white in color and +appear with the leaves in loose clusters. 'The trunk of our largest +American ash is covered with a whitish bark which in very young +trees is nearly smooth; on older trees it is broken by deep furrows +into irregular plates, and on very old stems it becomes smooth +again, from the rough plates scaling off. The branches are grayish +green dotted with gray or white.' Now who can tell <i>me</i> +something about this tree?"</p> +<p>"I know that furniture is made of the wood," said Clara, +"because that pretty set in the large spare-room is ash. And it is +very light-colored."</p> +<p>"The wood is used for a great many things," replied Miss Harson, +"and the ash has been called the husbandman's tree because the +timber is so much in demand for farming-implements, and for +articles that need to be both strong and light. It does not last so +long as the oak, but it is more elastic and can better resist +sudden shocks and jerks; it is therefore particularly desirable for +the spokes of wheels and ladders and the beams of floors. +Staircases were made of it in olden times, and they may still be +found in some English halls and abbeys. The forest ash makes better +oars than any other wood, and the tree has so many good qualities +that an old English poet spoke of it as</p> +<blockquote>"'The ash for nothing ill.'<br></blockquote> +<p>"But Malcolm looks as if he had something to say, and I shall be +very happy to hear it."</p> +<p>"It is only about the red berries that they bear in autumn, Miss +Harson; it looks queer to see berries growing on a tree."</p> +<br> +<p>"The mountain ash is the only one that has berries," replied his +governess, "and the bloom is in clusters of white flowers. The +berries are sometimes dark red and often of a bright scarlet, and +they remain on the tree during the winter, to the great delight of +the birds. We should find them very sour, although pretty to look +at; but the little feathered wanderers eat them with great relish +when the snows of winter make bird-food scarce and the bright-red +berries gleam out most invitingly. In some parts of Europe the +berries are dried and ground into flour. The rowan, or roan, tree +is the English name of the mountain ash, and in some parts of Great +Britain it is called <i>witchen</i>, because of its supposed power +against witches and evil spirits and all their spells. In old times +branches of it were hung about houses and stables and cow-sheds, +for it was thought that</p> +<blockquote> "'witches +have no power<br> +Where there is roan-tree wood.'"<br></blockquote> +<p>"But that isn't true, is it?" asked Edith.</p> +<p>"No, dear, not true of either the witches or the wood. But +ignorant people believe a great many foolish things, and the leaves +and twigs of the ash tree were thought to have peculiar virtue. In +some places it was once the practice to pluck an ash-leaf in every +case where the leaflets were of even number, and to say,</p> +<blockquote>"'Even ash, I do thee pluck,<br> +Hoping thus to meet good luck;<br> +If no luck I get from thee,<br> +Better far be on the tree.'"<br></blockquote> +<p>"It sounds like what children say on finding a four-leafed +clover," said Clara.</p> +<p>"It is on the same principle," was the reply, "for clover-leaves +grow naturally in threes and ash-leaves in sevens. Both rhymes are +equally silly where luck is concerned, and those who believe God's +words--that even 'the hairs of our head are all numbered'--will +have no faith in 'luck.' In old times the ash was believed to +perform wonderful cures of various kinds, and in remote parts of +England a little mouse called the shrew-mouse bore a very bad +character. If a horse or cow had pains in its limbs, they were said +to be caused by a shrew-mouse running over it. Our forefathers +provided themselves with what they called a shrew-ash, in order to +meet the case. The shrew-ash was nothing more than an ash tree in +the trunk of which a hole had been bored and a poor little +shrew-mouse put in, with many charms and incantations happily long +since forgotten."</p> +<p>"And couldn't the poor little mouse get out again?" asked +Edith.</p> +<p>"I am afraid not, dear; and we can only rejoice that we did not +live in those dark days. Among other beliefs in its virtues, the +leaves and wood of the ash were regarded throughout Northern Europe +as a protection from all manner of snakes, and in harvest-time +children were suspended in their cradles from the branches of tall +ash trees while their mothers were working in the harvest-field +below. Even now serpents are said to dislike the tree so much that +they will not come near it, and the leaf is considered a cure for +the bite of a poisonous snake. I have been told that an ash-leaf +rubbed on a mosquito-bite will at once take out the sting and +itching, and no better remedy can be found for the sting of a bee +or a wasp."</p> +<p>"It's ever so much nicer than mud," said Clara, who had rather a +talent for getting into hornets' nests.</p> +<br> +<p>"But the mud, you see, is always to be had," replied Miss +Harson, "while ash-leaves do not grow everywhere; and I do not know +that they have any power to cure the sting.</p> +<p>"The other species of ash found in this country are not so +important as the white, but the black ash is remarkable as the +slenderest deciduous tree of its height to be found in the forest. +It is often seventy or eighty feet tall, with a trunk not more than +a foot around. The color of the trunk is a dark granite-gray and +the bark is rough. The wood is remarkable for its toughness, and +for making baskets the Indians prefer it to any other, except the +trunk of a young white oak.</p> +<p>"The red ash is very much like the white, but the wood is less +valuable. It is a spreading, broad-headed tree, and the trunk is +erect and branching. It is not so tall as the black ash, yet its +trunk is three times as thick.</p> +<p>"A species of ash grows in Sicily that yields a substance called +<i>manna</i> which used to be valuable as a medicine, and this +manna is obtained in the same way as maple-sap--by making holes or +incisions in the bark of the tree. At the proper season the persons +whose business it is to collect manna begin to make incisions, one +after the other, up the stem. The manna flows out like clear water, +but it soon congeals and becomes a solid substance. It has a sweet +taste, and while in a liquid state runs into a leaf of the tree +that has been inserted in the wound. Afterward it flows into a +vessel placed below, from which it is carried away and shipped off +to other countries."</p> +<p>"Is there any story about the ash?" asked Malcolm.</p> +<p>"Not much of a story, dear," was the reply--"only a little +legend of the manna trees; but, such as it is, you shall have +it:</p> +<p>"The king of Naples, it is said, fenced a number of trees round +and forbade any to collect the store they yielded unless they paid +a tribute. By this means the royal revenue would be largely +increased. But, according to the story, the manna trees, as if they +disapproved of this ungenerous arrangement, refused to yield any +manna, and suddenly became bare and barren. Upon this the king, +finding his scheme a failure, revoked the tax and took away the +fence. Then the trees poured out their manna, as usual, in the +greatest abundance; so that it was said, 'When the king found he +could not make a gain of what Providence had freely bestowed, he +gave up the attempt and left the manna as free as God had given +it.'</p> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/101.png"><img src="Images/101.png" +width="40%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>THE SWING.</b></p> +<p>"There, now!" said Miss Harson; "after this long talk, you had +better run off and see if there is not a tree somewhere on the +grounds, with two ropes attached to it, that will bear better fruit +than any tree we have studied yet."</p> +<p>The trio laughed and raced for the swing, which was first +reached by Clara, who seated herself all ready for the push which +Malcolm would not grudge, for he pronounced his sister sweeter than +apple or peach; and so she was.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI." id="CHAPTER_VI."></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> +<h3><i>THE OLIVE TREE</i>.</h3> +<br> +<p>"The ash," said Miss Harson, "has some relations of which, I +think, you will be rather surprised to hear. These relations are +both trees and shrubs, and the lilac, for instance, is one of +them."</p> +<p>"Why, they don't look a bit alike," exclaimed Clara.</p> +<p>"No, they certainly do not; for, although this fragrant shrub +often grows as large as a tree, it is quite different from the ash +tree. Yet both belong to the olive family."</p> +<p>"The kind of olives that papa likes to eat at dinner, and that +you and I <i>don't</i> like, Miss Harson?" asked Malcolm.</p> +<p>"The very same," replied his governess; "only that we are +speaking now of the tree on which the olives grow. It is well said +that the very name of 'olive' suggests the idea of Palestine and +the sunny lands of the East. The olive tree is one of the most +prominent trees of the Bible. It is mentioned in the very earliest +part of the Scriptures, in the book of Genesis. I wonder if some +one can tell me about it?"</p> +<p>"I remember: a dove found a leaf when it was raining and brought +it to Noah in the ark," said little Edith, quickly.</p> +<p>"The rain had stopped falling, dear, after the deluge, and the +waters were receding, or falling, when Noah sent forth the dove a +second time to see what it would find. Here is the verse: 'And the +dove came in to him in the evening; and lo, in her mouth was an +olive leaf pluckt off; so Noah knew that the waters were abated +from off the earth<a name="FNanchor7" id="FNanchor7"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_7">[7]</a>.' For this reason the olive-branch is a +common emblem of peace. The olive tree is often mentioned in other +parts of the Bible, and was considered one of the most valuable +trees of Palestine, which is described as 'a land of oil-olive and +honey.' It is not nearly so handsome as some other trees of the +Holy Land, nor is it grand-looking or graceful. The leaves, which +are long for the width, and smooth, are dark green on the upper +side and silvery beneath; they generally grow in pairs. The fruit +is shaped like a plum; it is green when first formed, then paler in +color; and when quite ripe, it is black."</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_7" id="Footnote_7"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor7">[7]</a> Gen. viii. 9.</blockquote> +<p>"But those that papa eats are olive-color," said Clara.</p> +<p>"Yes," replied Miss Harson, smiling, "but all these hues I have +mentioned are olive-color in some stage of the fruit; and it is in +the green stage, before it is quite ripe, that it is gathered for +preserving."</p> +<p>"But that isn't <i>preserves</i>, is it?" asked Malcolm, drawing +up his mouth at the recollection of an olive he had once tried to +eat. "I thought preserves were always sweet."</p> +<p>"That is the shape in which you are accustomed to them, Malcolm; +but to preserve a thing means to keep it from decay, and salt and +vinegar will do this as well as sugar. Preserves of this kind are +what <i>you</i> call 'puckery.'--As to the color, Clara, +'olive-green' is a color by itself, because of its peculiar tint. +It is a gray green instead of a blue or yellow green, and it has a +very dull effect. The fruit is produced only once in two years, and +in bearing-season the tree is loaded with white blossoms that drop +to the ground like flakes of snow. It is said that not one in a +hundred of these numerous flowers becomes an olive. Here," +continued Miss Harson, pointing to a page of a book in her hand, +"is a representation of an olive-branch with some of the +plum-shaped fruit. The branch, you see, is hard and +stiff-looking."</p> +<p class="ctr"><img src="Images/106.png" width="40%" alt=""><br> +<b>OLIVE-BRANCH WITH FRUIT.</b></p> +<p>"I should think the tree would be prettier when all those white +flowers are on it," said little Edith.</p> +<p>"It is--much prettier," replied her governess--"but not so +useful. The fruit of the olive is so valuable that numbers of +people depend upon it for their support. The wood, too, is very +hard and durable, and, as it takes a fine polish, it is used for +making many ornamental articles."</p> +<p>"And where does the olive-oil come from?" asked Clara. "Do they +make holes in the tree for it, as they do for maple-sap?"</p> +<p>Malcolm was about to exclaim at this idea, but he remembered +just in time that, should Miss Harson happen to question him, he +himself could not tell where the oil came from.</p> +<p>"The oil is pressed from the olives," was the reply; "a large, +vigorous tree is said to yield a thousand pounds of it. It is such +an important article of commerce in the regions where it is +prepared that every one desires to get as much as he can out of his +olive trees, but those who are too greedy of gain will spoil the +quality of the oil to make a larger quantity. The small olive of +Syria is considered the most delicate, and Italian olives also are +very fine; those of Spain are larger and coarser. The best +olive-oil comes from the south-eastern portion of France and is a +clear, pure liquid; it is obtained from the first pressing of the +fruit. This must be only a gentle squeeze, to get the purest oil: +the quality usually sold is made by a heavier pressure; and then, +when the olives are worked over again, come the dregs, which are +not fit for table-use."</p> +<p>"Do they mash 'em, like making apples into cider?" asked +Malcolm.</p> +<p>"Something like that; and the olive-farmers take the most +anxious care of their orchards, for they know that the more olives +the more oil. This with the Italians means a living, and one of +their proverbs says, 'If you wish to leave a competency to your +grandchildren, plant an olive.' The poorest of the fruit is eaten +in their own families, 'to save it,' and, as it does not taste so +well, it will go much farther. They do not eat olives, though, as +we see them eaten--one or two as a relish; but a respectable +dishful is provided for each person, instead of the bread and +potatoes which they do not have."</p> +<p>"I'd rather have the bread and potatoes," said Clara, "and I'm +glad that I don't have to eat a whole plate of olives."</p> +<p>"If you had always been accustomed to having olives, as the +Italians are," replied Miss Harson, "you would think them very +nice. I do not suppose that their children ever think how much more +inviting are the olives that are kept for sale. Olives intended for +exportation are gathered while still green, usually in the month of +October. They are soaked for some hours in the strongest lye, to +get rid of their bitterness, and are afterward allowed to stand for +a fortnight in frequently-changed fresh water, in order to be +perfectly purified of the lye. It only then remains to preserve +them in common salt and water, when they are ready for export."</p> +<p>"That's what they taste of," exclaimed Malcolm--"salt; and I +don't like salt things."</p> +<p>"I think," said his governess, with a smile, "that I have seen a +boy whom I know enjoying sliced ham and tongue very much +indeed."</p> +<p>"So I do, Miss Harson," was the eager reply; "but ham and +tongue, you know, don't taste like olives."</p> +<p>"No, because they are ham and tongue. But they certainly taste +salty, and that is what you object to. It is generally found that +sweeping assertions are not very safe ones. But to come back to our +olive tree: it is an evergreen, and it grows very easily. The +readiness with which a twig will take root reminds us of the +willow. A fine grove of olive trees at Messa, in Morocco, was +accidentally planted. It is said that one of the kings of the +dynasty of Saddia, being on a military expedition, encamped here +with his army. The pegs with which the cavalry picketed their +horses were cut from olive trees in the neighborhood, and, some +sudden cause of alarm leading to the abandonment of the position, +the pegs were left in the ground. Making the best of the situation, +the pegs developed into the handsomest group of olive trees in the +district."</p> +<p>The children wondered if any trees had ever been planted in such +a strange way before, and little Edith said thoughtfully,</p> +<p>"But, Miss Harson, why don't good people go around and plant +trees wherever there aren't any? It would be so nice!"</p> +<p>"Some good people do plant trees, dear, wherever they can," +replied her governess, "thinking, as they say, of those who are to +come after them; a great many roadside trees have grown in this +way. But no one is allowed to meddle with other people's property; +waste-places might easily be beautified with trees if the owners +cared for anything but for their own present interests. But here is +something you will like to hear about the olives of Palestine: +'They are all planted together in the grove like the trees in a +forest, and it would seem scarcely possible for the owners to +distinguish their own property. But when the fruit is getting ripe, +watchmen are appointed to guard the grove and prevent a single +olive from being touched even by the person who has a right to the +tree.'--You do not look as if you would like that, Malcolm."</p> +<p class="ctr"><img src="Images/112.png" width="40%" alt=""><br> +<b>OLIVE TREE.--GATHERING THE FRUIT.</b></p> +<p>"Indeed I wouldn't!" replied the boy. "I rather think I'd take +my own olives whenever I wanted 'em."</p> +<p>"Not if you lived where all were agreed on this point, as they +seem to be in Palestine.--'Days pass on, and the autumn is at hand +before the governor of the district issues the wished-for +proclamation; then the watchmen are removed. Immediately the scene +becomes a most animated one. The grove is alive with an eager +throng of men, women and children shaking down the precious fruit. +It is, however, scarcely possible to bring every berry down, nor +would it seem desirable, since after this great harvest comes the +gleaning-time, when the poor, who have no olive trees, are +permitted to come into the grove and shake down what is left.'"</p> +<p>"Isn't there something about that in the Bible, Miss Harson?" +asked Clara.</p> +<p>"Yes; it is in the book of the prophet Isaiah, 'Yet gleaning +grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or +three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in +the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the Lord God of +Israel<a name="FNanchor8" id="FNanchor8"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_8">[8]</a>.' This is a prophecy about God's people, but +the Jews were told by God to leave something, when they were +harvesting, for the poor to glean. Does it not seem wonderful that +the mighty Ruler of the universe should condescend to such small +things? But nothing is small with him, and we see that his loving +care extends to the poorest and the meanest."</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_8" id="Footnote_8"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor8">[8]</a> Isa. xvii. 6.</blockquote> +<p>"Miss Harson," asked Edith, with great earnestness, "has each of +our hairs got a number on it? I couldn't find any."</p> +<p>The young lady could scarcely keep from smiling, but she was +obliged to call Malcolm to order, and even Clara seemed amused at +her little sister's queer interpretation of the loving words, "The +very hairs of your head are all numbered."</p> +<p>Miss Harson took her youngest pupil on her knee and explained to +her the meaning of our Saviour's words in Luke xii. 7, where it is +added, "Fear not,", because the heavenly Father's loving care is +always around us.</p> +<p>"It was a natural mistake," she continued, "for a very little +girl to make; but we must not try to find amusement in mistakes +about God's word. Many grown people are irreverent in this way +without knowing it: perhaps they were not properly taught when they +were children. But <i>my</i> children must not have this excuse, +and I want them all to promise me that they will never utter nor +listen to words from the Bible in any other but a reverent +manner."</p> +<p>All promised, Malcolm with a flushed face and subdued tone; and +Edith felt that one of the great puzzles of her small existence had +been solved.</p> +<p>"Oil is the most important product of the olive tree," said Miss +Harson, "and it has well been called its richness and fatness. The +great demand for it in Europe and Asia prevents the best quality +from being sent abroad, and it is said that even the most wealthy +foreigners seldom get it pure. It is a most important article of +food, taking the place held by butter and lard with us. Innumerable +lamps, too, are kept burning by means of this oil, and so varied +are its uses in the East that it was a greater thing than we can +understand for the prophet Habakkuk to say, 'Although the labor of +the olive shall fail, ... yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will +joy in the God of my salvation.' Job says, 'The rock poured me out +rivers of oil<a name="FNanchor9" id="FNanchor9"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_9">[9]</a>;' this means the oil of the olive, which will +thrive on the sides and tops of rocky hills where there is scarcely +any earth. It is a very long-lived tree, as well as an evergreen; +the Psalmist says, 'I am like a green olive tree in the house of +God.'"</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_9" id="Footnote_9"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor9">[9]</a> Job xxiii. 6.</blockquote> +<p>"What does a <i>wild</i> olive tree mean, Miss Harson?" asked +Clara.</p> +<p>"It means, dear, one that has grown without being cultivated, +like our wild cherry and plum trees. The wild olive is smaller than +the other, and inferior to it in every way. There are a great many +olive trees in Palestine, and a place where they must have been +very plentiful is called by a name which we often see in the +Bible.--What is it, Malcolm?"</p> +<p>"Is it 'the Mount of Olives'?" said Malcolm.</p> +<p>"Yes, and it is sometimes called 'Olivet.' It is mentioned in +the Old Testament as well as in the New. In Second Samuel it is +written: 'And David went up by the ascent of Mount Olivet, and wept +as he went up, and had his head covered, and he went barefoot: and +all the people that was with him covered every man his head, and +they went up, weeping as they went up<a name="FNanchor10" id= +"FNanchor10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10">[10]</a>.'"</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_10" id="Footnote_10"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor10">[10]</a> 2 Sam. xv. 30.</blockquote> +<p>"What was the matter?" asked Edith.</p> +<p>"King David's wicked son Absalom had risen up against his father +because he wished to be king in his stead. You remember how he was +caught by the head in the boughs of an oak during the very battle +that he was fighting for this purpose; so we know that he did not +succeed in his wicked plan, but lost his life instead.--The Mount +of Olives is described as 'a ridge running north and south on the +east side of Jerusalem, its summit about half a mile from the city +wall and separated from it by the valley of the Kidron. It is +composed of a chalky limestone, the rocks everywhere showing +themselves. The olive trees that formerly covered it and gave it +its name are now represented by a few trees and clumps of trees. +There are three prominent summits on the ridge; of these, the +southernmost, which is lower than the other two, is now known as +'the Mount of Offence,' originally 'the Mount of Corruption,' +because Solomon defiled it with idolatrous worship. Over this ridge +passes the road to Bethany, the most frequented route to Jericho +and the Jordan. The side of the Mount of Olives toward the west +contains many tombs cut in the rock. The central summit rises two +hundred feet above Jerusalem and presents a fine view of the city, +and, indeed, of the whole region, including the mountains of +Ephraim on the north, the valley of the Jordan on the east, a part +of the Dead Sea on the south-east, and beyond it Kerak, in the +mountains of Moab. Perhaps no spot on earth unites so fine a view +with so many memorials of the most solemn and important events. +Over this hill the Saviour often climbed in his journeys to and +from the Holy City. Gethsemane lay at its foot on the west, and +Bethany on its eastern slope.'"</p> +<p>During the reading of this description of the Mount of Olives, +Miss Harson showed the children pictures of the different spots +mentioned, and thus they were not likely soon to forget what had +been told them.</p> +<p>"Who can repeat some words from the New Testament about this +mountain?" asked Miss Harson.</p> +<p>"'Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives,'" said Clara, who had +learned this verse in her Sunday lesson, "and it is the first verse +of the eighth chapter of St. John."</p> +<p>"And the verse just before it, at the end of the seventh +chapter," replied her governess, "says that 'every man went unto +his own house,' but 'Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives.' In +another place it is said that 'at night he went out and abode in +the Mount of Olives,' and in still another that he 'continued all +night in prayer to God,' probably on the same mountain."</p> +<p>"And can people really go and see the very same Mount of Olives +now?" asked Malcolm, eagerly.</p> +<p>"The very same," was the reply, "except, as I just read to you, +many of the olive trees that gave it its name are no longer there. +The Garden of Gethsemane, too, the most sacred spot near the +mountain, is much changed, and a traveler who saw it lately +says:</p> +<p>"'At the foot of the Mount of Olives is a garden enclosed by a +wall. There are paths and there are plots of flowers, the work of +loving hands in recent years. The flowers speak of to-day, but +there are olive trees in the garden that testify of the history of +far-away years. Their venerable trunks, gnarled and rugged, are +like the rough, marred binding of old books, shutting in a history +going back to a far-off date.</p> +<p>"'On one side of this garden slope upward the terraces of the +Mount of Olives--terraces that are cultivated to-day even as the +slopes of Olivet have been cultivated for generations and +centuries. The other side of the garden looks toward the eastern +wall of Jerusalem. Deep down in its shadowy bed, between the wall +and the garden, lies the ravine of the Kedron.</p> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/121.png"><img src="Images/121.png" +width="40%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE.</b></p> +<p>"'If you visit that garden and look upon its old olive trees, +the keeper of the place will tell you that you are in Gethsemane, +the spot of our Saviour's betrayal. He will point out the "Grotto +of the Agony," the place where the disciples slumbered, and that +where Judas, before his brethren, ceased publicly to be a follower +and became the betrayer of Jesus. Some things you very naturally +may question as the guardian of the enclosure tells his story. +Whether any one of the venerable olive trees ever threw its shadow +across the prostrate form of Jesus is more than doubtful, but that +these trees are burdened with the history of centuries all must +concede. "Gethsemane" means "oil-press," and olive trees long ago +gave Olivet its name. That somewhere in this neighborhood the +Saviour suffered cannot be doubted, and within that closed wall may +have been the very spot where he bowed in his agony, and where he +heard the tongue of Judas utter his treacherous "Rabbi!" and where +he felt the serpent-breath of the traitor as that traitor kissed +him.'"</p> +<p>Miss Harson read of this solemn spot in a low, reverent tone; +and the little audience were very quiet, until at last Clara +said,</p> +<p>"Whenever we see an ash tree or olives, how much there will be +to think of!"</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII." id="CHAPTER_VII."></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> +<h3><i>THE USEFUL BIRCH</i>.</h3> +<br> +<p>"Oh, Miss Harson!" called out Clara, in great excitement, as she +caught up with her governess on a run; "hasn't Edie poisoned +herself? She has been eating this twig."</p> +<p>Edith, of course, at once began to cry.</p> +<p>"You are not poisoned, dear," said Miss Harson, very quickly, +after trying the twig herself; "for this is birch-wood, and it +cannot possibly hurt you. But remember, Edie, that this must not +happen again; <i>never</i> put anything to your mouth unless you +know it to be harmless. The birds and squirrels and other animals +that are obliged to pick up their own living as soon as they are +able to use their limbs have the faculty given them of knowing what +is good for them to eat, but little girls are not intended to live +in the woods, and they cannot tell whether or not the things they +find there are fit to eat."</p> +<p>"I took only a little bit," sobbed Edith; "Clara snatched it +away as soon as it tasted good."</p> +<p>Malcolm laughingly tossed his little sister into a sort of +evergreen cradle where the branches grew low--for they were +enjoying an afternoon in the woods--and held her there securely, +while their governess replied,</p> +<p>"'A little bit' is too much of a thing that might be harmful. +You must remember to 'touch not, taste not, handle not,' until you +have asked permission. But I am going to let you all chew as many +birch-shoots as you want, and I too shall chew some; for when I was +a little girl, I used to think they were 'puffickly +d'licious.'"</p> +<p>The children were much amazed to think that Miss Harson had ever +talked like Edith--indeed, the two older ones could scarcely +believe that they once did so themselves; but all soon had their +hands full of birch-twigs, and they began gnawing like so many +squirrels. All approved of the "birchskin," as Edith called it, and +Malcolm declared that "it would be grand fun to live in the woods +all the time."</p> +<p>"Couldn't we have a tent, Miss Harson," asked Clara, "and try +it?"</p> +<p>"I have no doubt," was the reply, "that your indulgent papa +would have a tent put up here for you if he thought it would make +you happier, but I have my doubts as to whether it would do so. In +the first place, I should object very much to living in the tent +with you, and how could you possibly live there alone?"</p> +<p>Clara and Edith were quite sure that they could not get along +without their friend and governess, but Malcolm thought he would +like to try being a hermit or an Indian, he was not quite ready to +say which.</p> +<p>"While you are deciding," said Miss Harson, with a smile, "it +may be as well for us to go on as usual; but I think that a little +tent could be put up here somewhere, which we might enjoy for an +hour or so on pleasant days. I will see about it."</p> +<p>The little girls were delighted, and Malcolm finally +condescended to be pleased with the idea.</p> +<p>"This is a very young birch," continued their governess, "and +you see how slender and graceful it is; also that the bark, or +'skin,' is very dark. For this reason it is called the black, or +cherry, birch, and also because the tree is very much like the +black cherry. It is also called sweet birch and mahogany birch; the +<i>sweet</i> part you can probably understand, and it gets its +other name from the color of the wood, which often resembles +mahogany and at one time was much used for furniture. There are +larger trees of the same kind all around us, and I should like to +know if anything else has been noticed besides the twigs of this +little one."</p> +<p>"<i>I</i> see something," replied Malcolm: "there are +flowers--purple and yellow."</p> +<p>"And what is the particular name for these tree-blossoms?" asked +Miss Harson.</p> +<p>"Isn't it <i>catkins</i>?" inquired Clara, timidly.</p> +<p>"Yes, catkins, or aments. They hang, as you see, like long +tassels of purple and gold, and are as fragrant as the bark. +Bryant's line,</p> +<blockquote>"'The fragrant birch above him hung her tassels in the +sky,'<br></blockquote> +<p>"was written of this same black birch. Some of these trees are +sixty or seventy feet high, and all are very graceful, this species +being considered the most beautiful of the numerous birch family. +The leaves, which are just coming out, are two or three inches long +and about half as wide; they taper to a point and have serrate, or +sawlike, edges. The wood is firm and durable, and is much used for +cattle-yokes as well as for bedsteads and chairs. The large trees +yield a great quantity of sweetish sap, which makes a pleasant +drink. The trees are tapped just as the sugar-maples are, and in +some parts of the country gathering this sap, which is sometimes +used to make vinegar, is quite an important event."</p> +<p>"Oh! oh! <i>oh</i>!" screamed Edith, and began to run.</p> +<p>"Oh! oh! oh!" echoed Clara; and Malcolm declared that she was +just like "Jill," who "came tumbling after."</p> +<br> +<p>"What is the matter, children?" asked their governess, in +dismay; but she stood perfectly still.</p> +<p>"Only a poor little garter-snake," said Malcolm, "putting his +head out to see if it's warm enough for him yet. But he has gone +back into his hole frightened to death at such dreadful noises. +Hello! what's the matter with Edie now?"</p> +<p>The little sister had fallen, tripped up by some rough roots, +and, expecting the poor startled garter-snake to come and make a +meal off her, she was calling loudly for help.</p> +<p>Miss Harson had her in her arms in a moment, and it was soon +found that one foot had quite a bad bruise.</p> +<p>"If only you had not run away!" said her governess. "He was such +an innocent little snake to make all this fuss about, and very +pretty too, if you had stopped to look at him."</p> +<p>"Are snakes ever pretty?" asked Edith, in great surprise.</p> +<p>"Certainly they are, dear, and this one had lovely stripes. I +wish you could have seen him."</p> +<p>The little girl began to wish so too, it was so funny to think +of a snake being pretty, and she felt quite ashamed that she had +scampered away in such a silly fashion.</p> +<p>"What a goose I was!" said Clara, doing her thinking aloud. "But +I thought it must be something dreadful, when Edie screamed +so."</p> +<p>"How much better it would have been to have found out before you +screamed!" replied Miss Harson.--"But come, Edith; see what a nice +cane Malcolm has just cut to help your lame foot with. He is +offering you his arm, too, on the other side, and between the two I +think you will get along finely."</p> +<p>Edith thought the same thing, and enjoyed being helped home in +this fashion. Her foot was quite painful, though, and considerably +swollen; and Clara bathed it with arnica when the little girl had +been comfortably established on the schoolroom sofa.</p> +<p>"Perhaps," said Miss Harson, "our little invalid will not care +to hear about trees this evening?"</p> +<p class="right"><img src="Images/131.png" width="40%" alt=""><br> +<b>THE CUT-LEAVED WHITE BIRCH.</b></p> +<p>But the little invalid did care, and it was decided to take a +further ramble among the birches.</p> +<p>"I want to hear about birch-bark," said Malcolm--"not the kind +we've been eating, but the kind that canoes and things are made +of."</p> +<p>"You have already heard about the black birch," replied his +governess, "and, besides this, we have the white, or gray, birch, +the bark of which is white, chalky and dotted with black; the red +birch, with bark of a reddish or chocolate color; the yellow birch, +bark yellowish, with a silvery lustre; and the canoe birch, which +has a white bark with a pearly lustre. There is also a dwarf, or +shrub, birch. The list, you see, is quite a long one."</p> +<p>"What kind grow in <i>our</i> woods?" asked Clara.</p> +<p>"You certainly know of one kind," was the reply--"the black, or +sweet, birch, which we have all tried and like so well. Besides +this, there is the white, or little gray, birch, which is seldom +over twenty-five or thirty feet high. It is, however, a graceful +and beautiful object, enjoying to an eminent decree the lightness +and airiness of the birch family, and spreading out its glistening +leaves on the ends of a very slender and often pensile spray with +an indescribable softness. An English poet has called this tree +the</p> +<blockquote> + +"'most beautiful<br> +Of forest-trees, the lady of the woods.'"<br></blockquote> +<p>The children laughed at the idea of calling a tree a +<i>lady</i>, it seemed so comical; but Miss Harson said that she +thought this was a very good description of a slender, graceful +tree.</p> +<p class="right"><img src="Images/133.png" width="40%" alt=""><br> +<b>WHITE-BIRCH LEAF.</b></p> +<p>"Four or five inches," she continued, "will span its waist, or +trunk, and this seems a very good reason for calling it +<i>little</i>. Another name for this tree is poplar birch, because +the triangular-shaped leaves, which taper to a very long, slender +point, have a habit of trembling like those of the poplars. The +branches are of a dark chocolate color which contrasts very +prettily with the grayish-white trunk, and their extreme +slenderness causes them to droop somewhat like those of the willow. +The white birch will spring up in the poorest kind of soil, and it +is found in the highest latitude in which any tree can live. Its +leaf is 'deltoid' in shape and indented at the edge. The bark of +this species is said to be more durable than any other vegetable +substance, and a piece of birch-wood was once found changed into +stone, while the outer bark, white and shining, remained in its +natural state,"</p> +<p>"I don't see how it could," said Malcolm. "What kept it from +turning into stone too?"</p> +<p>"Its peculiar nature," was the reply, "which is a thing that we +cannot explain, and we shall have to take the story just as it is. +We certainly know that the wood has been proved to be very strong, +and it is much used for timber."</p> +<p>"Is the red birch really red, Miss Harson?" asked Clara, who +thought that this promised to be the prettiest member of the +family.</p> +<p>"The bark has a reddish tinge, and it is so loose and +ragged-looking that it has been said to roll up its bark in coarse +ringlets, which are whitish with a stain of crimson. The red birch, +which is more rare than any of the other kinds, is a much larger +tree than the white birch, but, like all its relations, it is very +graceful. The wood is white and hard and makes very good fuel, +while the twigs are made into brooms for sweeping streets and +courtyards."</p> +<p>"But there isn't very much red about it, after all," said +Malcolm.</p> +<p>"It wasn't red," murmured Edith; "it was green;" and the next +moment "the baby" was fast asleep, but Miss Harson was afraid that +she had taken the snake with her to the land of Nod, so restless +was her sleep.</p> +<p>"I hope the yellow birch is yellow," said Clara again.</p> +<p>"We will see what is said of its color," replied her governess, +"and here it is: 'Distinguished by its yellowish bark, of a soft +silken texture and silvery or pearly lustre,' It is a large tree, +and has been named <i>excelsa</i>--'lofty'--because of its height. +The slender, flowing branches are very graceful, and the tree is +often as symmetrical as a fine elm, but droops less. The roots of +the yellow birch seem to enjoy getting above the ground and +twisting themselves in a very fantastic manner, and, taken +altogether, it is a strikingly handsome and ornamental tree. The +wood was at one time much liked for fuel, and many of the logs were +of immense size."</p> +<p>"Now," said Malcolm, gleefully, "the canoe birch has <i>got</i> +to come next, because there isn't anything else to come."</p> +<p>"That is an excellent reason," replied Miss Harson, "and the +canoe birch it shall be. There is more to be said of it than of any +of the others, and it also grows in greater quantities. Thick woods +of it are found in Maine and New Hampshire--for it loves a cold +climate--and in other Northern portions of the country. The tall +trunks of the trees resemble pillars of polished marble supporting +a canopy of bright-green foliage. The leaves are something of a +heart-shape, and their vivid summer green turns to golden tints in +autumn. The bark of the canoe birch is almost snowy white on the +outside, and very prettily marked with fine brown stripes two or +three inches long, which go around the trunk. This bark is very +smooth and soft, and it is easily separated into very thin sheets. +For this reason the tree is often called the paper birch, and the +smooth, thin layers of bark make very good writing-paper when none +other can be had."</p> +<p>"Oh, Miss Harson!" exclaimed Clara; "did you ever see any that +was written on?"</p> +<p>"Yes," was the reply; "I once wrote a letter on some +myself."</p> +<p>"Did you <i>really</i>?" cried two eager voices. "How +<i>could</i> you? Oh, do tell us about it!"</p> +<p>"I was making a visit at a village in Maine," said their +governess, "where the beautiful trees are to be seen in all their +perfection, and I thought it would be appropriate to write a letter +from there on birch bark. So I split my bark very thin and got a +respectable sheet of it ready; then I cut another piece, to form an +envelope, and gummed it together. I had quite a struggle to write +on it decently with a steel pen, because the pen would go through +the paper; but I persevered, and finally I accomplished my letter. +It seemed odd to put a postage-stamp on birch bark, and I smiled to +think how surprised the home-people would be to get such a letter. +They <i>were</i> surprised, and they told me afterward that the +postman laughed when he delivered it."</p> +<p>The children thought this very interesting, and they wished that +there were canoe-birch trees growing at Elmridge, that they might +be enabled to try the experiment for themselves.</p> +<p>"Now," continued Miss Harson, "I am going to read you an account +of canoe-making, and of some other uses to which the bark is +put:</p> +<p>"'In Canada and in the district of Maine the country-people +place large pieces of the bark immediately below the shingles of +the roof, to form a more impenetrable covering for their houses. +Baskets, boxes and portfolios are made of it, which are sometimes +embroidered with silk of different colors. Divided into very thin +sheets, it forms a substitute for paper, and placed between the +soles of the shoes and in the crown of the hat it is a defence +against dampness. But the most important purpose to which it is +applied, and one in which it is replaced by the bark of no other +tree, is in the construction of canoes. To procure proper pieces, +the largest and smoothest trunks are selected. In the spring two +circular incisions are made, several feet apart, and two +longitudinal ones on opposite sides of the tree; after which, by +introducing a wooden wedge, the bark is easily detached. These +plates are usually ten or twelve feet long and two feet nine inches +broad. To form the canoe, they are stitched together with fibrous +roots of the white spruce about the size of a quill, which are +deprived of the bark, split and suppled in water. The seams are +coated with resin of the balm of Gilead.</p> +<p>"'Great use is made of these canoes by the savages and by the +French Canadians in their long journeys into the interior of the +country; they are very light, and are easily transported on the +shoulders from one lake or river to another, which is called the +<i>portage</i>. A canoe calculated for four persons, with their +baggage, weighs from forty to fifty pounds; some of them are made +to carry fifteen passengers.'</p> +<p>"And now let me show you a picture of the Kentucky pioneer in a +birch-bark canoe."</p> +<p>"Why, Miss Harson, the Indians are trying to kill him!" +exclaimed Malcolm.</p> +<p>"Yes," she replied; "when you read the history of the United +States, you will find that not only Daniel Boone, but the most of +the early settlers of these Western lands, had trouble with the +Indians. Nor is this strange. These pioneers were often rough men, +and were looked upon by the natives as invaders of their country +and treated as enemies. But to come back to the uses of the bark of +the birch:</p> +<p>"'In the settlements of the Hudson Bay Company tents are made of +the bark of this tree, which for that purpose is cut into pieces +twelve feet long and four feet wide. These are sewed together by +threads made of the white-spruce roots; and so rapidly is a tent +put up that a circular one twenty feet in diameter and ten feet +high does not occupy more than half an hour in pitching. Every +traveler and hunter in Canada enjoys these "rind-tents," as they +are called, which are used only during the hot summer months, when +they are found particularly comfortable.'"</p> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/141.png"><img src="Images/141.png" +width="40%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>IN THE BIRCH-BARK CANOE.</b></p> +<p>"Well, that's the funniest thing yet!" exclaimed Malcolm. +"'Rind-tents'! I wish I could see one. Did they have any in Maine +where you were, Miss Harson?"</p> +<p>"No," was the reply, "I did not even hear of such a thing there, +and to see it you would probably have to go far to the north. The +English birch, which is found also in many parts of Europe, is put +to a great many uses; the leaves produce a yellow dye, and the +wood, when mixed with copperas, will color red, black and brown. An +old birch tree that is supposed to be giving an account of itself +says,</p> +<p>"'How many are the uses of my bark! Thrifty men who sit beside +the blazing hearth when my branches throw up a clear bright flame, +and follow the example of their fathers in making their own shoes +and those of their families, tan the hides with my bark. +Kamschadales construct from it both hats and vessels for holding +milk, and the Swedish fisherman his shoes. The Norwegian covers +with it his low-roofed hut and spreads upon the surface layers of +moss at least three or four inches thick, and, having twisted long +strips together, he obtains excellent torches with which to cheer +the darkness of his long nights. Fishermen, in like manner, make +great use of them in alluring their finny prey. For this purpose +they fit a portion of blazing birch in a cleft stick and spear the +fish when attracted by its flickering light.'"</p> +<p>The children exclaimed at this queer way of fishing, but Malcolm +was very much taken with the idea of doing it by night with blazing +torches, and he thought that he would like to be a Norwegian +fisherman even better than a hermit or an Indian.</p> +<p>"The old tree goes on to say," continued Miss Harson, "that +'Finland mothers form of the dried leaves soft, elastic beds for +their children, and from me is prepared the <i>mona</i>, their sole +medicine in all diseases. My buds in spring exhale a delicious +fragrance after showers, and the bark, when burnt, seems to purify +the air in confined dwellings.'</p> +<p>"In Lapland the twigs of the birch, covered with reindeer-skins, +are used for beds, but they cannot be so comfortable, I should +think, as the leaves. The fragrant wood of the tree makes the fires +which have to be kept up inside the huts even in summer to drive +away the mosquitoes, and the people of those Northern regions would +find it hard to get along without the useful birch."</p> +<p>"I like to hear about it," said Clara. "Can you tell us +something more that is done with it, Miss Harson?"</p> +<p>"There is just one thing more," replied her governess, with a +smile, "which I will read out of an old book; and I desire you all +to pay particular attention to it."</p> +<p>Little Edith was wide awake again by this time, and her great +blue eyes looked as if she were ready to devour every word.</p> +<p>"Birch rods," continued Miss Harson, "are quite different from +birch <i>twigs</i>, and the uses to which they were put were not +altogether agreeable to the boys who ran away from school or did +not get their lessons. 'My branches,' says the birch, 'gently +waving in the wind, awakened in those days no feelings of dread +with truant urchins--for <i>all</i> might be truants then, if so it +pleased them--but at length a scribe arose who thus wrote +concerning my ductile twigs: "The civil uses whereunto the birch +serveth are many, as for the punishment of children both at home +and abroad; for it hath an admirable influence upon them to quiet +them when they wax unruly, and therefore some call the tree +<i>make-peace</i>"'" Malcolm and Clara both laughed, and asked +their young governess when the birch rods were coming; but Edith +did not feel quite so easy, and, with her bruised foot and all, it +took a great deal of petting that night to get her comfortably to +bed.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII." id="CHAPTER_VIII."></a>CHAPTER +VIII.</h2> +<h3><i>THE POPLARS</i>.</h3> +<br> +<p>The bruised foot was not comfortable to walk on for two or three +days, and Edith was settled in the great easy arm-chair with dolls +and toys and picture-books in a pile that seemed as if it would not +stop growing until every article belonging to herself and Clara had +been gathered there. "We can go on with our trees," said Miss +Harson, "even if we do not see them just yet; and this evening I +should like to tell you something about the poplar, a large tree +with alternate leaves which is often found in dusty towns, where it +seems to flourish as well as in its favorite situation by a running +stream. An old English writer calls the poplars 'hospitable trees, +for anything thrives under their shade.' They are not +handsomely-shaped trees, but the foliage is thick and pretty. In +the latter part of this month--April--the trees are so covered with +their olive-green catkins that large portions of the forests seem +to be colored by them."</p> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/147.png"><img src="Images/147.png" +width="40%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>IN THE EASY CHAIR.</b></p> +<p>"Are there any poplars at Elmridge?" asked Malcolm.</p> +<p>"Not nearer than the woods," was the reply, "where we must go +and look for them when Edith's foot is quite well again, though +there are a good many in the city. The poplar is often planted by +the roadside because it grows so rapidly and makes a good shade. +The <i>Abele</i>, or silver poplar, is an especial favorite for +this purpose.</p> +<p>"The balm of Gilead, or Canada poplar, is the largest of the +species, and really a handsome tree, often growing to the height of +fifty or sixty feet, with a trunk of proportionate size. It has +large leaves of a bright, glossy green, which grow loosely on long +branches, A peculiarity of this tree is that before the leaves +begin to expand the buds are covered with a yellow, glutinous +balsam that diffuses a penetrating but very agreeable odor unlike +any other. The balsam is gathered as a healing anodyne, and for +many ailments it is a favorite remedy in domestic medicine. All the +poplars produce more or less of this substance.</p> +<p class="right"><img src="Images/149.png" width="35%" alt=""><br> +<b>LOMBARDY POPLAR.</b></p> +<p>"The river poplaris found on the banks of rivers and brooks and +in wet places, and is a noble and graceful tree. The trunk is light +gray in color, and the young trees have a smooth, leather-like +bark. The broad leaves, of a very rich green, grow on stems nearly +as long as themselves, and the flowering aments are of a light-red +color. The leaf-stalks and young branches are also brightly tinted. +Another of these trees has a very singular name: it is called the +necklace poplar."</p> +<p>"Do the flowers grow like real necklaces?" asked Clara.</p> +<p>"Not quite," replied her governess, "but the reason given is +something like it. The tree is so called from the resemblance of +the long ament, before opening, to the beads of a necklace. In +Europe it is known as the Swiss poplar and the black Italian +poplar. Its timber is much valued there for building. There are +also the black poplar and that queer, stiff-looking tree the +Lombardy poplar. Cannot one of you tell me where there are some +tall, narrow trees that look almost as if they had been cut out of +wood and stuck there?"</p> +<p>"I know where there are some," said Malcolm: "right in front of +Mrs. Bush's old house; and I think they're miserable-looking +trees."</p> +<p>"When old and rusty, they are not in the least cheerful," +replied Miss Harson; "and it is so long since Lombardy poplars were +admired that few are found except about old places. The tree is +shaped like a tall spire, and in hot, calm weather drops of clear +water trickle from its leaves like a slight shower of rain. It was +once a favorite shade-tree, and a century ago great numbers of +Lombardy poplars were planted by village waysides, in front of +dwelling-houses, on the borders of public grounds, and particularly +in avenues leading to houses that stand at some distance from the +high-road.</p> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/151.png"><img src="Images/151.png" +width="40%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>A GROUP OF POPLARS IN CASHMERE.</b></p> +<p>"The poplar is found in many lands. The Lombardy poplar, as its +name indicates, was brought from Italy, where it grows luxuriantly +beside the orange and the myrtle; but after one of our cold winters +many of its small branches will decay, and this gives it a forlorn +appearance. When fresh and green, the Lombardy poplar is quite +handsome. Some one wrote of it long ago: 'There is no other tree +that so pleasantly adorns the sides of narrow lanes and avenues, +and so neatly accommodates itself to limited enclosures. Its +foliage is dense and of the liveliest verdure, making delicate +music to the soft touch of every breeze. Its terebinthine odors +scent the vernal gales that enter our open windows with the morning +sun. Its branches, always turning upward and closely gathered +together, afford a harbor to the singing-birds that make them a +favorite resort, and its long, tapering spire that points to heaven +gives an air of cheerfulness and religious tranquillity to village +scenery.'"</p> +<p>"I wish we had some," said Edith, "with singing-birds in +'em."</p> +<p>"Why, my dear child," replied her governess, "have we not the +beautiful elms, in which the birds build their nests and where they +fly in and out continually? They are the very same birds that build +in the Lombardy poplars."</p> +<p>"I thought that singing-birds always lived in cages," said the +little queen in the easy-chair.</p> +<p>"And did you think they were hung all over the Lombardy +poplars?" asked Malcolm, in a broad grin.</p> +<p>Edith laughed too, and Miss Harson said smilingly.</p> +<p>"I thought that the birds about Elmridge did a great deal of +singing, and the blue-birds and robins kept it up all day. But I +should not like to see the old Lombardy poplars hung with gilded +cages, and the birds which should happen to be prisoners in the +cages would like it still less."</p> +<p>"Well," said Edith, contentedly, as she settled herself again to +listen.</p> +<p>"The poplar," continued Miss Harson, "has a great many insect +enemies, and the Lombardy is not often seen now, because a great +many of these trees were destroyed on account of a worm, or +caterpillar, by which they were infested. Poplar-wood is soft, +light and generally of a pale-yellow color; it is much used for +toy-making and for boarded floors, 'for which last purpose it is +well adapted from its whiteness and the facility with which it is +scoured, and also from the difficulty with which it catches fire +and the slowness with which it burns. A red-hot poker falling on a +board of poplar would burn its way without causing more combustion +than the hole through which it passed.'"</p> +<p>"I should think, then," said Malcolm, "that all wooden things +would be made of poplar."</p> +<p>"It is generally thought not to be durable," was the reply, "but +it is said that if kept dry the wood will last as long as that of +any tree. Says the poplar plank,</p> +<blockquote>"'Though heart of oak be ne'er so stout,<br> +Keep me dry and I'll see him out.'<br></blockquote> +<p>"The poplar has been highly praised, for every part of this tree +answers some good purpose. The bark, being light, like cork, serves +to support the nets of fishermen; the inner bark is used by the +Kamschadales as a material for bread; brooms are made from the +twigs, and paper from the cottony down of the seeds. Horses, cows +and sheep browse upon it.</p> +<p>"And now," said Miss Harson, when the children were wondering if +that were the end, "we have come to the most interesting tree of +the whole species--the aspen, or trembling poplar. It is a small, +graceful tree with rounded leaves having a wavy, toothed border, +covered with soft silk when young, which remains only as a fringe +on the edge at maturity, supported by a very slender footstalk +about as long as the leaf, and compressed laterally from near the +base. They are thus agitated by the slightest breath of wind with +that quivering, restless motion characteristic of all the poplars, +but in none so striking as this. 'To quiver like an aspen-leaf has +become a proverb. The foliage appears lighter than that of most +other trees, from continually displaying the under side of the +leaves.</p> +<p>"The aspen has been called a very poetical tree, because it is +the only one whose leaves tremble when the wind is apparently calm. +It is said, however, to suggest fickleness and caprice, levity and +irresolution--a bad character for any tree. The small American +aspen, which is quite common, has a smooth, pale-green bark, which +gets whitish and rough as the tree grows old. The foliage is thin, +but a single leaf will be found, when examined, uncommonly +beautiful. A spray of the small aspen, when in leaf, is very light +and airy-looking, and the leaves produce a constant rustling sound. +'Legends of no ordinary interest linger around this tree. Ask the +Italian peasant who pastures his sheep beside a grove of +<i>Abele</i> why the leaves of these trees are always trembling in +even the hottest weather when not a breeze is stirring, and he will +tell you that the wood of the trembling-poplar formed the cross on +which our Saviour suffered.'"</p> +<p>"Oh, Miss Harson!" said Clara, in a low tone. "Is that +<i>true</i>?"</p> +<p>"We do not know that it is, dear, nor do we know that it is not. +Here are some verses about it which I like very much:</p> +<blockquote>"'The tremulousness began, as legends tell,<br> + When he, the meek One, bowed his head to death<br> +E'en on an aspen cross, when some near dell<br> + Was visited by men whose every breath<br> +That Sufferer gave them. Hastening to the wood--<br> + The wood of aspens--they with ruffian power<br> +Did hew the fair, pale tree, which trembling stood<br> + As if awestruck; and from that fearful hour<br> +Aspens have quivered as with conscious dread<br> +Of that foul crime which bowed the meek Redeemer's head.<br> +<br> +"'Far distant from those days, oh let not man,<br> + Boastful of reason, check with scornful speech<br> +Those legends pure; for who the heart may scan<br> + Or say what hallowed thoughts such legends teach<br> +To those who may perchance their scant flocks keep<br> + On hill or plain, to whom the quivering tree<br> +Hinteth a thought which, holy, solemn, deep,<br> + Sinks in the heart, bidding their spirits flee<br> +All thoughts of vice, that dread and hateful thing<br> +Which troubleth of each joy the pure and gushing +spring?'"<br></blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX." id="CHAPTER_IX."></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> +<h3><i>ALL A-BLOW: THE APPLE TREE</i>.</h3> +<br> +<p>It certainly was a beautiful sight, and the children exclaimed +over it in ectasy. It was now past the middle of April, and Miss +Harson had taken her little flock to visit an apple-orchard at some +distance from Elmridge, and the whole place seemed to be one mass +of pink-and-white bloom.</p> +<p>"And how deliciously <i>sweet</i> it is!" said Malcolm as he +sniffed the fragrant air.</p> +<p>"Oh!" exclaimed Edith, turning up her funny little nose to get +the full benefit of all this fragrance; "I can't breathe half +enough at once."</p> +<p>"That is just my case," said her governess, laughing, "but I did +not think to say it in that way. Get all you can of this +deliciousness, children; I wish that we could carry some of it away +with us."</p> +<p>"And so you shall," replied a hearty voice as Mr. Grove, the +owner of the orchard, came up with a knife in his hand and began +cutting off small branches of apple--blossoms. "I like to see folks +enjoy things."</p> +<p>"I hope you don't mind our trespassing on your grounds?" said +Miss Harson. "I can engage that my little friends will do no +injury, and I particularly wished them to see your beautiful +orchard in bloom; it is almost equal to a field of roses."</p> +<p>"Don't mind it at all, miss," was the reply--"quite the +contrary; and I think, myself, it's a pretty sight. Smells good, +too. Now, here's a nosegay big enough for you three young ladies, +and Bub there can carry it."</p> +<p>Malcolm, who was quite proud of his name, felt so indignant at +being called "Bub" that he almost forgot the farmer's generosity; +but his governess acknowledged it, very much to the worthy man's +satisfaction.</p> +<p>Edith, however, was rather shocked.</p> +<p>"I thought it was wicked," said she, "to cut off flowers from +fruit trees? Won't these make apples?"</p> +<p>"Not them particular ones, Sis," replied Mr. Grove, with a +laugh; "they're done for now. But it ain't wicked to cut off your +own apple blows when there's too many on the tree to make good +apples, and there's plenty to spare yet." He was very much amused +at the little girl's serious face over this wholesale destruction +of infant apples, and he invited them all to come to the house and +get a drink of fresh milk. The children thought this a very +pleasant invitation, and Miss Harson was quite willing to gratify +them.</p> +<p>The farmer led his guests into a very cheerful and wonderfully +clean kitchen, where Mrs. Groves was busy with her baking, and the +loaves of fresh bread looked very inviting. She was as pleasant and +hospitable as her husband, and after shaking up a funny-looking +patchwork cushion in a rocking-chair for the young lady to sit down +on she told the little girls that she would get them a couple of +crickets if they would wait a minute, and disappeared into the next +room.</p> +<p>The two little sisters looked at each other in dismay and +wondered what they could do with these insects, but before they +could consult Miss Harson good Mrs. Grove had returned carrying in +each hand a small flat footstool. The girls sat down very +carefully, for they were not accustomed to such low seats; but the +whole party were tired with their walk and glad to rest for a short +time. Malcolm, being a boy, was expected to sit where he could, and +he speedily established himself in the corner of a wooden +settle.</p> +<p>In spite of the apple-blossoms, the kitchen fire was very +comfortable; and, as the baking was just coming to an end, Mrs.</p> +<p>Grove said that "she would be ready to visit with them in a +minute:" she did not seem to allow herself more than a "minute" for +anything. Besides the milk, some very nice seed-cakes in the shape +of hearts were produced, and Edith thought them the most delightful +little cakes she had ever tasted. Clara and Malcolm, too, were +quite hungry, and Miss Harson enjoyed her glass of milk and +seed-cake as well as did the young people. The farmer and his wife +seemed really sorry to part with their guests when they rose to go, +but Miss Harson said that it was time for them to be at home, and +the children were obedient on the instant.</p> +<p>"Well," said the worthy couple, "you know now where to come when +you want more apple-blows and a drink of milk."</p> +<p>Malcolm was quite laden with the mass of rosy flowers which Mr. +Grove piled up in his arms, and he enjoyed the delicious scent all +the way home.</p> +<p>"I must get out the big jar," said Miss Harson as she surveyed +their treasures, "and there are so many buds that I think we may be +able to keep them for some days.--What would you say, Edith, if I +told you that people cut off not only the blossoms, but even the +fruit itself, while it is green, to make what is left on the tree +handsomer and better?"</p> +<p>Edith looked her surprise, and the other children could not +understand why all the fruit that formed should not be left on the +tree to ripen.</p> +<p>"It is very often left," replied their governess, "but, although +the crop is a large one, it will be of inferior quality; and those +who understand fruit-raising thin it out, so that the tree may not +have more fruit than it can well nourish. But now it is time for +papa to come, and after dinner we will have a regular +apple-talk."</p> +<br> +<p>"How nice it was at Mrs. Grove's to-day!" said Clara, when they +were gathered for the talk. "I think that kitchens are pleasanter +to sit in than parlors and school-rooms."</p> +<p>"So do I," chimed in Edith; "but I was afraid about the crickets +at first. I thought we'd have to hold 'em in our hands, and I +didn't like that."</p> +<p>Why <i>would</i> people always laugh when there was nothing to +laugh at? The little girl thought she had a very funny brother and +sister, and Miss Harson, too, was funny sometimes.</p> +<p>"Have you so soon forgotten about the real insect-crickets, +dear?" asked her governess, kindly. "Why, it will be months yet +before we see one. Besides, I thought I told you that in some +places a little bench is called a 'cricket'?--Do you know, Clara, +why you thought Mrs. Grove's kitchen so pleasant? It is larger and +better furnished than kitchens usually are, there were pleasant +people in it, and you were tired and hungry and ready to enjoy rest +and refreshments; but I am quite sure that, on the whole, you would +like your own quarters best, because you are better fitted for +them, as Mrs. Grove is for hers. We had a very pleasant visit, +though, and some day we may repeat it--perhaps when the apples are +ripe."</p> +<p>"Good! good!" cried the children, clapping their hands; and +Malcolm added that he "would like to be let loose in that +apple-orchard."</p> +<p>"Perhaps you would like it better than Farmer Grove would," was +the reply. "But we haven't got to the apples yet; we must first +find out a little about the tree. We learn in the beginning that it +was one of the very earliest trees planted in this country by the +settlers, because it is both hardy and useful. There is a wild +species called the Virginia crab-apple, which bears beautiful pink +flowers as fragrant as roses, but its small apples are intensely +sour. The blossoms of the cultivated apple tree are more beautiful +than those of any other fruit; they are delicious to both sight and +scent."</p> +<p>"And do look, Miss Harson," said Clara, "at these lovely +half-open buds! They are just like tiny roses, and <i>so</i> +sweet!"</p> +<p>Down went Clara's head among the clustered blossoms, and then +Edith had to come too; and Malcolm declared that between the two +they would smell them to death.</p> +<p>"It seems," continued Miss Harson, "that the apple tree grows +wild in every part of Europe except in the frigid zone and in +Western Asia, China and Japan. It is thought to have been planted +in Britain by the Romans; and when it was brought here, it seemed +to do better than it had done anywhere else. It is said that 'not +only the Indians, but many indigenous insects, birds and +quadrupeds, welcomed the apple tree to these shores. The butterfly +of the tent-caterpillar saddled her eggs on the very first twig +that was formed, and it has since shared her affections with the +wild cherry; and the canker-worm also, in a measure, abandoned the +elm to feed on it. As it grew apace the bluebird, robin, +cherry-bird, king-bird, and many more, came with haste and built +their nests and warbled in its boughs, and so became orchard-birds +and multiplied more than ever. It was an era in the history of +their race in America. The downy woodpecker found such a savory +morsel under its bark that he perforated it in a ring quite round +the tree before he left it. It did not take the partridge long to +find out how sweet its buds were, and every winter eve she flew, +and still flies, from the wood to pluck them, much to the farmer's +sorrow. The rabbit, too, was not slow to learn the taste of its +twigs and bark; and when the fruit was ripe, the squirrel half +rolled, half carried, it to his hole. Even the musquash crept up +the bank from the brook at evening, and greedily devoured it, until +he had worn a path in the grass there; and when it was frozen and +thawed, the crow and the jay were glad to taste it occasionally. +The owl crept into the first apple tree that became hollow, and +fairly hooted with delight, finding it just the place for him; so, +settling down into it, he has remained there ever since.'</p> +<p>"Speaking of these buds, Clara," said her governess, "I think I +forgot to tell you that the apple tree belongs to the family +Rosaceae, and therefore the half-opened blossoms have a right to +look like roses. The tree is not a handsome one, being a small +edition of the oak in its sturdy outline, but it is less graceful +or picturesque-looking, being often broader than it is high and +resembling in shape a half globe. The leaves are not pretty except +when first unfolded, and their color is then a beautiful light tint +known as apple-green. But the foliage soon becomes dusty and +shabby-looking. An old apple tree, with its gnarled, and often +hollow, trunk, is generally handsomer than a young one, unless in +the time of blossoms; for only a young apple-orchard is covered +with such a profusion of bloom as that we saw to-day."</p> +<p>"I am glad," said Clara, "that it belongs to the rose family, +for now the dear little buds seem prettier than ever."</p> +<p>"The apples are prettier yet," observed</p> +<p>Malcolm; "if there's anything I like, it's apples."</p> +<p>"I am afraid that you eat too many of them for your good," +replied his governess; "I shall have to limit you to so many a +day."</p> +<p>"I have eaten only six to-day," was the modest reply, "and they +were little russets, too."</p> +<p>"Oh, Malcolm, Malcolm!" said Miss Harson, laughing; "what shall +I do with you? Why, you would soon make an apple-famine in most +places. Three apples a day must be your allowance for the present; +and if at any time we go to live in an orchard, you may have +six."</p> +<p>"Why, <i>we</i> have only one," exclaimed little Edith, "and we +don't want any more.--Do we, Clara?"</p> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/169.png"><img src="Images/169.png" +width="40%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>Apple Blossoms.</b></p> +<p>"If you don't want 'em," said Malcolm, "there's no sense in +eating 'em.--But I'll remember, Miss Harson. I suppose three at one +time ought to be enough."</p> +<p>Malcolm's expression, as he said this, was so doleful that every +one laughed at him; and his governess continued:</p> +<p>"The apple tree is said to produce a greater variety of +beautiful fruit than any other tree that is known, and apples are +liked by almost every one. They are a very wholesome fruit and +nearly as valuable as bread and potatoes for food, because they can +be used in so many different ways, and the poorer qualities make +very nourishing food for nearly all animals."</p> +<p>"Rex fairly snatches the apple out of my hand when I go to give +him one," said Malcolm.</p> +<p>"So does Regina," added Clara, who trembled in her shoes +whenever she offered these dainties to the handsome +carriage-horses.</p> +<p>Edith had not dared to venture on such a feat yet, and therefore +she had nothing to say.</p> +<p>"All horses are fond of apples," said Miss Harson, "and the +fruit is very thoroughly appreciated. Ancient Britain was +celebrated for her apple-orchards, and the tree was reverenced by +the Druids because the mistletoe grew abundantly on it. In Saxon +times, when England became a Christian country, the rite of +coronation, or crowning of a king, was in such words as these: 'May +the almighty Lord give thee, O king, from the dew of heaven and the +fatness of the earth, abundance of corn and wine and oil! Be thou +the lord of thy brothers, and let the sons of thy mother bow down +before thee. Let the people serve thee and the tribes adore thee. +May the Almighty bless thee with the blessings of heaven above, and +the mountains and the valleys with the blessings of the deep below, +with the blessings of grapes and <i>apples</i>! Bless, O Lord, the +courage of this prince, and prosper the work of his hands; and by +thy blessing may his land be filled with <i>apples</i>, with the +fruit and dew of heaven from the top of the ancient mountains, from +the <i>apples</i> of the eternal hills, from the fruit of the earth +and its fullness!' You will see from this how highly apples were +valued in England in those ancient times."</p> +<p>"I should like to pick them up when they are ripe," said Clara, +and Malcolm expressed a desire to hire himself out by the day to +Mr. Grove when that time arrived.</p> +<br> +<p>"An apple-orchard in autumn," continued their governess, "is +often a merry scene. Ladders are put against the trees, and the +finest apples are carefully picked off, but such as are to be used +for cider-making are shaken to the ground. Men and boys are at +work, and even women and children are there with baskets and aprons +spread out to catch the fruit; and they run back and forth wherever +the apples fall thickest, with much laughter at the unexpected +showers that come down upon their heads and necks. Large baskets +filled with these apples are carried to the mill, where, after +being laid in heaps a while to mellow, they are crushed and pressed +till their juice is extracted; and this, being fermented, becomes +cider. From this cider, by a second fermentation, the best vinegar +is made."</p> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/173.png"><img src="Images/173.png" +width="40%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>THE APPLE-HARVEST.</b></p> +<p>"Miss Harson," asked Edith, as the talk seemed to have come to +an end, "isn't there any more about apple trees? I like 'em."</p> +<p>"Yes, dear," was the reply; "there is more. I was just looking +over, in this little book, some queer superstitions about apple +trees in England, and here is a strange performance which is said +to take place in some very retired parts of the country:</p> +<p>"'Scarcely have the merry bells ushered in the morning of +Christmas than a troop of people may be seen entering the +apple-orchard, often when the trees are powdered with hoarfrost and +snow lies deep upon the ground. One of the company carries a large +flask filled with cider and tastefully decorated with +holly-branches; and when every one has advanced about ten paces +from the choicest tree, rustic pipes made from the hollow boughs of +elder are played upon by young men, while Echo repeats the strain, +and it seems as if fairy-musicians responded in low, sweet tones +from some neighboring wood or hill. Then bursts forth a chorus of +loud and sonorous voices while the cider-flask is being emptied of +its contents around the tree, and all sing some such words as +these:</p> +<blockquote> + "'"Here's to +thee, old apple tree!<br> + +Long mayest thou grow.<br> +And long mayest thou blow, and ripen the apples that hang on<br> +thy bough!<br> +<br> + "'"This full +can of apple wine,<br> + Old +tree, be thine:<br> +It will cheer thee and warm thee amid the deep snow;<br> +<br> + "'"Till the +goldfinch--fond bird!--<br> + In +the orchard is heard<br> +Singing blithe 'mid the blossoms that whiten thy +bough."'"<br></blockquote> +<p>"But what did they do it for?" asked Malcolm, who enjoyed the +account as much as the others. "There doesn't seem to be any sense +in it."</p> +<p>"There <i>is</i> no sense in it," replied his governess, "but +these ignorant people had inherited the custom from their fathers +and grandfathers, and they really believed--and perhaps still +believe--that this attention would be sure to bring a fine crop of +apples. We are distinctly told, though, that 'it is God that giveth +the increase;' and to him alone belong the fruits of the earth. +Sometimes the crop is so great that the trees fairly bend over with +the weight of the fruit, and there is an old English saying: 'The +more apples the tree bears, the more she bows to the folk.'"</p> +<p>"How funny!" laughed Edith. "Does the apple tree move its head, +Miss Harson?"</p> +<p>"It cannot go quite so far as that," was the reply; "it just +stays bent over like a person carrying a heavy burden. The branches +of overladen fruit trees are sometimes propped up with long poles +to keep them from breaking. There is another strange custom, which +used to be practiced on New Year's eve. It was called +'Apple-Howling,' and a troop of boys visited the different +orchards--which would scarcely have been desirable when the apples +were ripe--and, forming a ring around the trees, repeated these +words:</p> +<blockquote>"'Stand fast, root! bear well, top!<br> + Pray God send us a good howling crop--<br> + Every twig, apples big;<br> + Every bough, apples enow.'<br></blockquote> +<p>"All then shouted in chorus, while one of the party played on a +cow's horn, and the trees were well rapped with the sticks which +they carried. This ceremony is thought to have been a relic of some +heathen sacrifice, and it is quite absurd enough to be that."</p> +<p>"What is 'a howling crop,' Miss Harson?" asked Clara. "That name +sounds so queer!"</p> +<p>"I don't know what it can be," replied her governess, "unless it +refers to the strange expression sometimes used, 'howling with +delight.' We hear more commonly of 'howling with pain,' but 'a +howling crop' must be one that makes the owner scream, as well as +dance for joy."</p> +<p>"Why, <i>I</i> scream only when I'm frightened," said Edith, who +began to think that there were much sillier people in the world +than herself.</p> +<p>"At garter-snakes," added Malcolm, giving his sister a sly +pinch; but Edith did not mind his pinches, because he always took +good care not to hurt her.</p> +<p>Miss Harson said that the best way was not to scream at all, as +it was both a silly and a troublesome habit, and the sooner her +charges broke themselves of it the better she should like it. Clara +and Edith both promised to try--just as they had promised before, +when the ants were so troublesome; but they were nine months older +now, and seemed to be getting a little ashamed of the habit.</p> +<p>"Are apples mentioned anywhere in the Bible?" asked Miss Harson, +presently.</p> +<p>Clara and Malcolm were busy thinking, but nothing came of it, +until their governess said,</p> +<p>"Turn to the book of Proverbs, Clara, and find the twenty-fifth +chapter and the eleventh verse."</p> +<p>Clara read very carefully:</p> +<p>"'A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of +silver.' But what does it mean?" she asked.</p> +<p>"It probably means 'framed in silver' or 'in silver +frames<a name="FNanchor11" id="FNanchor11"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_11">[11]</a>,'" was the reply; "and then it is easy to +understand how important our words are, and that 'fitly-spoken' +ones are as valuable and lasting as golden apples framed in silver. +The apple tree is mentioned in Joel, where it is said that 'all the +trees of the field are withered<a name="FNanchor12" id= +"FNanchor12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12">[12]</a>,' and both apple +trees and apples are mentioned in several places of the Old +Testament. But, to tell the whole truth, scholars are not agreed as +to whether the Hebrew word denotes the apple or some other fruit +that grew in the land of Israel."</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_11" id="Footnote_11"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor11">[11]</a> The Revised Version renders the phrase "in +baskets of silver."</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_12" id="Footnote_12"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor12">[12]</a> Joel i. 12.</blockquote> +<p>The children had all enjoyed the "apple-talk," and they felt +that the fruit which they were so accustomed to seeing would now +have a new meaning for them.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X." id="CHAPTER_X."></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> +<h3><i>A FRUITFUL FAMILY: THE PEACH, ALMOND, PLUM AND +CHERRY</i>.</h3> +<br> +<p>Snowdrops, crocuses, hyacinths and tulips were blooming out of +doors and in-doors; the grass looked green and velvety, and the +fruit trees were, as John expressed it, "all a-blow." The peach +trees, without a sign of a leaf, looked, as every one said of them, +like immense bouquets of pink flowers, while pear, cherry and plum +trees seemed as if they were dressed in white.</p> +<p>One cloudy, windy day, when the petals fell off in showers and +strewed the ground, Edith declared that it was snowing; but she +soon saw her mistake, and then began to worry because there would +be no blossoms left for fruit.</p> +<p>"If the flowers stayed on, there would be no fruit," said Miss +Harson. "Let me show you just where the little green germ is."</p> +<p>"Why, of course!" said Malcolm; "it's in the part that stays on +the tree."</p> +<p>Edith listened intently while her governess showed her the ovary +of a blossom safe on the twig where it grew, and explained to her +that it was this which, nourished by the sap of the tree, with the +aid of the sun and air, would ripen into fruit, while the petals +were merely a fringe or ornament to the true blossom.</p> +<p>At Elmridge, scattered here and there through garden and +grounds, as Mr. Kyle liked to have them, there were some fruit +trees of every kind that would flourish in that part of the +country, but there was no orchard; and for this reason Miss Harson +had taken the children to see the grand apple-blossoming at Farmer +Grove's. Two very large pear trees stood one on either side of the +lawn, and there were dwarf pear trees in the garden.</p> +<p>"I think pears are nicer than apples," said Clara as they stood +looking at the fine trees, now perfectly covered with their snowy +blossoms.</p> +<p>But Malcolm, who found it hard work to be happy on three apples +a day, stoutly disagreed with his sister on this point, and +declared that nothing was so good as apples.</p> +<p>"How about ice-cream?" asked his governess, when she heard this +sweeping assertion.</p> +<p>The young gentleman was silent, for his exploits with this +frozen luxury were a constant subject of wonder to his friends and +relatives.</p> +<p>"You will notice," said Miss Harson, "that the shape of these +trees is much more graceful than that of the apple tree. They are +tall and slender, forming what is called an imperfect pyramid. +Standard pear trees, like these, give a good shade, and the long, +slender branches are well clothed with leaves of a bright, glossy +green. This rich color lasts late into the autumn, and it is then +varied with yellow, and often with red and black, spots; so that +pear-leaves are not to be despised in gathering autumn-leaf +treasures. The pear is not so useful a fruit as the apple, nor so +showy in color; but it has a more delicate and spicy flavor, and +often is of an immense size."</p> +<p>"Yes, indeed!" said Clara. "Don't you remember, Miss Harson, +that sometimes Edith and I can have only one pear divided between +us at dessert because they are so large?"</p> +<p>"Yes, dear; and I think that half a duchess pear is as much as +can be comfortably managed at once."</p> +<p>"Well," observed Malcolm, "I don't want half an apple.--But, +Miss Harson, do they ever have 'pear-howlings' in England?"</p> +<p>"I have never read of any," was the reply, "and I think that +strange custom is confined to apple trees. And there is no mention +made of either pears or pear trees in the Scriptures."</p> +<p>"What are prickly-pears?" asked Clara. "Do they have thorns on +'em?"</p> +<p>"There is a plant by this name," replied her governess, "with +large yellow flowers, and the fruit is full of small seeds and has +a crimson pulp. It grows in sandy places near the salt water; it is +abundant in North Africa and Syria, and is considered quite good to +eat; but neither plant nor fruit bears any resemblance to our pear +trees: it is a cactus."</p> +<p>"Won't you have a story for us this evening, Miss Harson?" asked +Edith, rather wistfully.</p> +<p>"Perhaps so, dear--I have been thinking of it--but it will not +be about pear trees."</p> +<p>"Oh, I don't care," with a very bright face; "I'd as soon have +it about cherry trees, or--'Most anything!"</p> +<p>Miss Harson laughed, and said,</p> +<p>"Well, then, I think it will be about cherries; so you must rest +on that. This morning we will go around among the fruit trees and +see what we can learn from seeing them."</p> +<p>Of course it was Saturday morning and there were no lessons, or +they would not have been roaming around "promiscuous," as Jane +called it; for the young governess was very careful not to let the +getting of one kind of knowledge interfere with the getting of +another.</p> +<p>"How do you like these pretty quince trees?" asked Miss Harson +as they came to some large bushes with great pinkish flowers.</p> +<p>"I like 'em," replied Edith, "because they're so little. And oh +what pretty flowers!"</p> +<p>"Some more relations of the rose," said her governess. "And do +you notice how fragrant they are? The tree is always low and +crooked, just as you see it, and the branches straggle not very +gracefully. The under part of the dark-green leaves is whitish and +downy-looking, and the flowers are handsome enough to warrant the +cultivation of the tree just for their sake, but the large golden +fruit is much prized for preserves, and in the autumn a small tree +laden down with it is quite an ornamental object. The quince is +more like a pear than an apple. As the book says, 'it has the same +tender and mucilaginous core; the seeds are not enclosed in a dry +hull, like those of the apple; and the pulp of the quince, like +that of the pear, is granulated, while that of the apple displays +in its texture a firmer and finer organization.' The fruit, +however, is so hard, even when ripe, that it cannot be eaten +without cooking. It is said to be a native of hedges and rocky +places in the South of Europe."</p> +<p class="left"><img src="Images/186.png" width="40%" alt=""><br> +<b>PEACH-BLOSSOM.</b></p> +<p>"These peach trees," said Clara, "look like sticks with pink +flowers all over 'em." "They are remarkably bare of leaves when in +bloom," was the reply: "the leaves burst forth from their envelopes +as the blossoms pass away; but how beautiful the blossoms are! from +the deepest pink to that delicate tint which is called peach-color. +But do you know that we have left the apple and rose family now, +and have come to the almond family?"</p> +<p>The children were very much surprised to hear this, and they +looked at the peach trees with fresh interest.</p> +<p>"Yes," continued Miss Harson, "the family consists of the almond +tree, the peach tree, the apricot tree, the plum tree and the +cherry tree; and one thing that distinguishes them from the other +families is the gum which is found on their trunks.--Look around, +Malcolm, at the peach, plum and cherry trees, which are the only +members of the family that we have at Elmridge, and you will find +gum oozing from the bark, especially where there are +knotholes."</p> +<p>Malcolm not only found the gum, but succeeded in helping himself +to some of it, which he shared with his sisters. It had a rather +sweet taste, and the children seemed to like it, having first +obtained permission of their governess to eat it.</p> +<p>"That is another of the things that I thought 'puffickly +d'licious' when I was a child," said the young lady, laughing. "But +there is another peculiarity of this family of trees which is not +so innocent, and that is that in the fruit-kernel, and also in the +leaves, there is a deadly poison called prussic acid."</p> +<p>"O--h!" exclaimed the children, drawing back from the trees as +though they expected to be poisoned on the spot.</p> +<p>"But, as we do not eat either the kernels or the leaves," +continued their governess, "we need not feel uneasy, for the fruit +never yet poisoned any one. Here are the cherry trees, so covered +with blossoms that they look like masses of snow; and the smaller +plum trees are also attired in white. We will begin this evening +with the almond tree, and see what we can find out about the +family."</p> +<p>"Do almond trees and peach trees look alike?" asked Clara, when +they were fairly settled by the schoolroom fire; for the evenings +were too cool yet for the piazza.</p> +<p>"Very much alike," was the reply; "only the almond tree is +larger and it has white instead of pink blossoms. Then it is the +<i>fruit</i> of the peach we eat, but of the almond we eat the +kernel of the stem. I will read you a little account of it:</p> +<p class="right"><img src="Images/189.png" width="40%" alt=""><br> +<b>THE ALMOND.--BRANCH AND FRUIT.</b></p> +<p>"'The common almond is a native of Barbary, but has long been +cultivated in the South of Europe and the temperate parts of Asia. +The fruit is produced in very large quantities and exported in to +northern countries; it is also pressed for oil and used for various +domestic purposes. There are numerous varieties of this species, +but the two chief kinds are the bitter almond and the sweet almond. +The sweet almond affords a favorite article for dessert, but it +contains little nourishment, and of all nuts is the most difficult +of digestion. The tree has been cultivated in England for about +three centuries for the sake of its beautiful foliage, as the fruit +will not ripen without a greater degree of heat than is found in +that climate. The distilled water of the bitter almond is highly +injurious to the human species, and, taken in a large dose, +produces almost instant death.' The prussic acid which can be +obtained from the kernel of the peach is found also in the bitter +almond."</p> +<p>"But what do they want to find it for," asked Malcolm, "when it +kills people?"</p> +<p>"Because," replied his governess, "like some other noxious +things, it can be made valuable when used moderately and in the +right way. But it is often employed to give a flavor to +intoxicating liquors, and this is <i>not</i> a right way, as it +makes them even more dangerous than before. But we will leave the +prussic acid and return to our almond tree. It flourishes in +Palestine, where it blooms in January, and in March the ripe fruit +can be gathered."</p> +<p>This seemed wonderfully strange to the children--flowers in +January and fruit in March; and Miss Harson explained to them that +in that part of the world they do not often have our bitter cold +weather with its ice and snow to kill the tender buds.</p> +<p>"This tree," continued Miss Harson, "is occasionally mentioned +in the Old Testament. In Jeremiah the prophet says, 'I see a rod of +an almond tree<a name="FNanchor13" id="FNanchor13"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_13">[13]</a>;' also in Ecclesiastes it is said that 'the +almond tree shall flourish<a name="FNanchor14" id= +"FNanchor14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14">[14]</a>.'"</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_13" id="Footnote_13"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor13">[13]</a> Jer. i. II.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_14" id="Footnote_14"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor14">[14]</a> Eccl. xii. 5.</blockquote> +<p>"Are there ever many peach trees growing in one place," asked +Clara, "like the apple trees in Mr. Grove's orchard?"</p> +<p>"Yes," was the reply, "for in some places there are immense +peach-orchards, covering many acres of ground; and when the trees +in these are in blossom, the spring landscape seems to be pink with +them. These great peach-fields are found in Delaware and Maryland, +where the fruit grows in such perfection, and also in some of the +Western States. We all know how delicious it is, but, +unfortunately, so does a certain green worm, who curls up in the +leaves which he gnaws in spite of the prussic acid. This insect +will often attack the finest peaches and lay its eggs in them when +the fruit is but half grown. In this way the young grubs find food +and lodging provided for them all in one, and they thrive, while +the peach decays."</p> +<p>"What a shame it is," exclaimed Malcolm, in great indignation, +"to have our best peaches eaten by wretched little worms who might +just as well eat grass and leave the peaches for us!"</p> +<p>"Perhaps they think it a shame that they are so often shaken to +the ground or washed off the trees," replied Miss Harson; "and, as +to their eating grass, they evidently prefer peaches. 'Insects as +well as human beings have discriminating tastes, and the poor plum +tree suffers even more than the peach from their attentions. In +some parts of the country it has been entirely given up to their +depredations, and farmers will not try to raise this fruit because +of these active enemies. The whole almond family are liable to the +attacks of insects. Canker-worms of one or of several species often +strip them of their leaves; the tent-caterpillars pitch their tents +among the branches and carry on their dangerous depredations; the +slug-worms, the offspring of a fly called <i>Selandria cerasi</i>, +reduce the leaves to skeletons, and thus destroy them; the +cherry-weevils penetrate their bark, cover their branches with +warts and cause them to decay; and borers gnaw galleries in their +trunks and devour the inner bark and sap-wood.' So you see that, +with such an army of destroyers, we may be thankful to get any +fruit at all."</p> +<p>"I'm glad to know the name of that fly," said Malcolm, who +considered it an additional grievance that it should have such a +long name, "but I won't try to call him by it if I meet him +anywhere."</p> +<p>"I think it's pretty," said Clara, beginning to repeat it, and +making a decided failure.</p> +<p>"Fortunately," continued their governess, after reading it again +for them, "there are other things much more important for you to +remember just now, and I could not have said it myself without the +book. And now let us see what else we can learn about the plum. It +is a native, it seems, of North America, Europe and Asia, and many +of the wild species are thorny. The cultivated plums, damsons and +gages are varieties of the <i>Prunus domestica</i>, the cultivated +plum tree. These have no thorns; the leaves are oval in shape, and +the flowers grow singly. The most highly-valued cultivated plum +trees came originally from the East, where they have been known +from time immemorial. In many countries of Eastern Europe domestic +animals are fattened on their fruits, and an alcoholic liquor is +obtained from them; they also yield a white, crystallizable sugar. +The prunes which we import from France are the dried fruit of +varieties of the plum which contain a sufficient quantity of sugar +to preserve the fruit from decay."</p> +<p>"Do prunes really grow on trees, Miss Harson?" asked Edith, who +was rather disposed to think that they grew in pretty boxes.</p> +<p>"Yes, dear," was the reply; "they grow just as our plums do, +only they are dried and packed in layers before they reach this +country. We have two species of wild plum in North America--the +beach-plum, a low shrub found in New England, the fruit of which is +dark blue and about the size of damsons; while the other is quite a +large tree, and very showy when covered with its scarlet fruit. In +Maine it is called plum-granate, probably from its red color," "I +know what's coming next," said Clara--"cherries; because all the +rest have been used up. And then we're to have the story."</p> +<p>"But they're all interesting," replied Malcolm, gallantly, +"because Miss Harson makes them so."</p> +<p>"I hope that is not the only reason," said his governess, +laughing, "for trees are always beautiful and interesting and it is +a privilege to be able to learn something of their habits and +history.--Like most fruit trees, the cherry has many varieties, but +it is always a handsome tree, and less spoiled by insects than +others of the almond family. The black cherry is the most common +species in the United States, and is both wild and cultivated. The +garden cherry has broad, ovate, rough and serrate leaves, growing +thickly on the branches, and this, with the height of the tree, +makes a fine shade. Some old cherry trees have huge trunks, and +their thick branches spread to a great distance. The branches of +the wild cherry are too straggling to make a beautiful tree, and +the leaves are small and narrow. The blossoms of the cultivated +cherry are in umbels, while those of the wild cherry are borne in +racemes."</p> +<p>"I remember that, Miss Harson," said Clara, pleased with her +knowledge. "'Umbel' means 'like an umbrella,' and 'raceme' means +'growing along a stem.'"</p> +<p>"Very well indeed!" was the reply; "I am glad you have not +forgotten it.--Of our cultivated cherries, we have here at +Elmridge, besides the large black ones, which are so very sweet +about the first of July, the great ox-hearts, which look like +painted wax and ripen in June, and those very acid red ones, often +called pie-cherries, which are used for pies and preserves. The +cherry is a beautiful fruit, and one that is popular with birds as +well as with boys. The great northern cherry of Europe, which was +named by Linnaeus the 'bird-cherry,' is encouraged in Great Britain +and on the Continent for the benefit of the birds, which are +regarded as the most important checks to the over-multiplication of +insects. The fact not yet properly understood in America--that the +birds which are the most mischievous consumers of fruit are the +most useful as destroyers of insects--is well known by all farmers +in Europe; and while we destroy the birds to save the fruit, and +sometimes cut down the fruit-trees to starve the birds, the +Europeans more wisely plant them for the food and accommodation of +the birds."</p> +<p>"Isn't it wicked to kill the poor little birds?" asked +Edith.</p> +<p>"Yes, dear; it is cruel to kill them just for sport, as is often +done, and very foolish, as we have just seen, to destroy them for +the sake of the fruit, which the insects make way with in much +greater quantities than the birds do."</p> +<p>"Miss Harson," asked Clara, "do people cut down real cherry +trees to make the pretty red furniture like that in your room?"</p> +<p>"It is the wood of the wild cherry," replied her governess, +"that is used for this purpose. It is of a light-red or fresh +mahogany color, growing darker and richer with age. It is very +close-grained, compact, takes a good polish, and when perfectly +seasoned is not liable to shrink or warp. It is therefore +particularly suitable, and much employed, for tables, chests of +drawers, and other cabinet-work, and when polished and varnished is +not less beautiful for such articles than are inferior kinds of +mahogany."</p> +<p>"'Cherry' sounds pretty to say," continued Clara. "I wonder how +the tree got that name?"</p> +<p>"That wonder is easily explained," said Miss Harson, "for I have +been reading about it, and I was just going to tell you. 'Cherry +comes from 'Cerasus,' the name of a town on the Black Sea from +whence the tree is supposed to have been introduced into Italy, and +it designates a genus of about forty species, natives of all the +temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. They are trees or +shrubs with smooth serrated leaves, which are folded together when +young, and white or reddish flowers growing in bunches, like +umbels, and preceding the leaves or in terminal racemes +accompanying or following the leaves. A few species, with numerous +varieties, produce valuable fruits; nearly all are remarkable for +the abundance of their early flowers, sometimes rendered double by +cultivation. And now," added the young lady, "we have arrived at +the story, which is translated from the German; and in Germany the +cherries are particularly fine. A plateful of this beautiful fruit +was, as you will see, the cause of some remarkable changes."</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI." id="CHAPTER_XI."></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> +<h3><i>THE CHERRY-STORY.</i></h3> +<br> +<p>On the banks of the Rhine, in the pleasant little village of +Rebenheim, lived Ehrenberg, the village mayor. He was much +respected for his virtues, and his wife was greatly beloved for her +charity to the poor. They had an only daughter--the little +Caroline--who gave early promise of a superior mind and a +benevolent heart. She was the idol of her parents, who devoted +their whole care to giving her a sound religious education.</p> +<p>Not far from the house, and close to the orchard and +kitchen-garden, there was another little garden, planted +exclusively with flowers. The day that Caroline was born her father +planted a cherry tree in the middle of the flower-garden. He had +chosen a tree with a short trunk, in order that his little daughter +could more easily admire the blossoms and pluck the cherries when +they were ripe.</p> +<p>When the tree bloomed for the first time and was so covered with +blossoms that it looked like a single bunch of white flowers, the +father and mother came out one morning to enjoy the sight. Little +Caroline was in her mother's arms. The infant smiled, and, +stretching out her little hands for the blossoms, endeavored at the +same time to speak her joy, but in such a way as no one but a +mother could understand:</p> +<p>"Flowers! flowers! Pretty! pretty!"</p> +<p>The child engaged more of the parents' thoughts than all the +cherry-blossoms and gardens and orchards, and all they were worth. +They resolved to educate her well; they prayed to God to bless +their care and attention by making Caroline worthy of him and the +joy and consolation of her parents. As soon as the little girl was +old enough to understand, her mother told her lovingly of that kind +Father in heaven who makes the flowers bloom and the trees bud and +the cherries and apples grow ruddy and ripe; she told her also of +the blessed Son of God, once an infant like herself, who died for +all the world.</p> +<p>The cherry tree in the middle of the garden was given to +Caroline for her own, and it was a greater treasure to her than +were all the flowers. She watched and admired it every day, from +the moment the first bud appeared until the cherries were ripe. She +grieved when she saw the white blossoms turn yellow and drop to the +earth, but her grief was changed into joy when the cherries +appeared, green at first and smaller than peas, and then daily +growing larger and larger, until the rich red skin of the ripe +cherry at last blushed among the interstices of the green +leaves.</p> +<p>"Thus it is," said her father; "youth and beauty fade like the +blossoms, but virtue is the fruit which we expect from the tree. +This whole world is, as it were, a large garden, in which God has +appointed to every man a place, that he may bring forth abundant +and good fruit. As God sends rain and sunshine on the trees, so +does he send down grace on men to make them grow in virtue, if they +will but do their part."</p> +<p>In the course of time war approached the quiet village which had +hitherto been the abode of peace and domestic bliss, and the battle +raged fearfully. Balls and shells whizzed about, and several houses +caught fire. As soon as the danger would permit, the mayor tried to +extinguish the flames, while his wife and little daughter were +praying earnestly for themselves and for their neighbors.</p> +<p>In the afternoon a ring was heard at the door, and, looking out +of the window, Madame Ehrenberg saw an officer of hussars standing +before her. Fortunately, he was a German, and mother and daughter +ran to open the door.</p> +<p>"Do not be alarmed," said the officer, in a friendly tone, when +he saw the frightened faces; "the danger is over, and you are quite +safe. The fire in the village, too, is almost quenched, and the +mayor will soon be here. I beg you for some refreshment, if it is +only a morsel of bread and a drink of water. It was sharp work," he +added, wiping the perspiration from his brow, "but, thank God, we +have conquered," Provisions were scarce, for the village had been +plundered by the enemy, but the good lady brought forth a flask of +wine and some rye bread, with many regrets that she had nothing +better to offer. But the visitor, as he ate the bread with a hearty +relish, declared that it was enough, for it was the first morsel he +had tasted that day.</p> +<p>Caroline ran and brought in on a porcelain plate some of the +ripest cherries from her own tree.</p> +<p>"Cherries!" exclaimed the officer. "They are a rarity in this +district. How did they escape the enemy? All the trees in the +country around are stripped."</p> +<p>"The cherries," said the mother, "are from a little tree which +was planted in Caroline's flower-garden on her birthday. It is but +a few days since they became ripe; the enemy, perhaps, did not +notice the little tree."</p> +<p>"And is it for me you intend the cherries, my dear child?" asked +the officer. "Oh no; you must keep them. It were a pity to take one +of them from you."</p> +<p>"How could we refuse a few cherries," said Caroline, "to the man +that sheds his blood in our defence? You must eat them all," said +she, while the tears streamed down her cheeks. "Do, I entreat you! +Eat them all."</p> +<p>He took some of the cherries and laid them on the table, near +his wine-glass; but he had scarcely placed the glass to his lips +when the trumpet sounded. He sprang up and girded on his sword.</p> +<p>"That is the signal to march," said he. "I cannot wait one +instant."</p> +<p>Caroline wrapped the cherries in a roll of white paper and +insisted that he should put them in his pocket.</p> +<p>"The weather is very warm," said she, "and even cherries will be +some refreshment."</p> +<p>"Oh," said the officer, with emotion, "what a happiness it is +for a soldier, who is often obliged to snatch each morsel from +unwilling hands, to meet with a generous and benevolent family! I +wish it were in my power, my dear child, to give you some pledge of +my gratitude, but I have nothing--not so much as a single groat. +You must be content with my simple thanks." With these words, and +once more bidding Caroline and her mother an affectionate farewell, +he took his departure, and walked rapidly out of sight.</p> +<p>The joy of the good family for their happy deliverance was, +alas! of short continuance. Some weeks after, a dreadful battle was +fought near the village, which was reduced to a heap of ruins. The +mayor's house was burned to the ground and all his property +destroyed. Alas for the horrors of cruel war! Father, mother and +daughter fled away on foot, and wept bitterly when they looked back +on their once happy village, now but a mass of blazing ruins.</p> +<p>The family retired to a distant town, and lived there in very +great distress. The mayor endeavored to obtain a livelihood as a +scrivener, or clerk; his wife worked at dressmaking and millinery, +and Caroline, who soon became skillful in such matters, faithfully +assisted her.</p> +<p>A lady in town--the Countess von Buchenhaim--gave them much +employment, and one day Caroline went to this lady's house to carry +home a bonnet. She was taken to the garden, where the countess was +sitting in the summer-house with her sister and nieces, who had +come to visit her. The young ladies were delighted with the bonnet, +and their mother gave orders for three more, particularly praising +the blue flowers, which were the work of Caroline's own hands.</p> +<p>The Countess von Buchenhaim spoke very kindly of the young girl +to her sister, and related the sad story of the worthy family's +misfortunes. The count was standing with his brother-in-law, the +colonel, at some little distance from the door of the summer-house, +and the colonel, a fine-looking man in a hussar's uniform and with +a star on his breast, overheard the conversation. Coming up, he +looked closely at Caroline.</p> +<p>"Is it possible," said he, "that you are the daughter of the +mayor of Rebenheim? How tall you have grown! I should scarcely have +recognized you, though we are old acquaintances."</p> +<p>Caroline stood there abashed, looking full in the face of the +stranger, her cheeks covered with blushes. Taking her by the hand, +the colonel conducted her to his wife, who was sitting near the +countess.</p> +<p>"See, Amelia," said he; "this is the young lady who saved my +life ten years ago, when she was only a child."</p> +<p>"How can that be possible?" asked Caroline, in amazement.</p> +<p>"It must indeed appear incomprehensible to you," answered the +colonel, "but do you remember the hussar-officer that one day, +after a battle, stood knocking at the door of your father's house +in Rebenheim? Do you remember the cherries which you so kindly gave +him?"</p> +<p>"Oh, was it you?" exclaimed Caroline, while her face beamed with +a smile of recognition. "Thank God you are alive! But how I could +have done anything toward saving your life I cannot +understand."</p> +<p>"In truth, it would be impossible for you to guess the great +service you did me," said he, "but my wife and daughters know it +well; I wrote to them of it at once. And I look upon it as one of +the most remarkable occurrences of my life."</p> +<p>"And one that I ought to remember better than any other event of +the war," said his lady, rising and affectionately embracing +Caroline.</p> +<p>"Well," said the countess, "neither I nor my husband ever heard +the story. Please give us a full account of it."</p> +<p>"Oh, it is easily told," said the colonel. "Hungry and thirsty, +I entered the house in which Caroline and her parents dwelt, and, +to tell the plain truth, I begged for some bread and water. They +gave me a share of the best they had, and did not hesitate to do +so, though their village and themselves were in the greatest +distress. Caroline robbed every bough on her cherry tree to refresh +me. Fine cherries they were--the only ones, probably, in the whole +country. But the enemy did not give me time to eat them; I was +obliged to depart in a hurry. Caroline insisted, with the kindest +hospitality, that I should take them with me, but that was no easy +matter: my horse had been shot under me the day before. I took from +my knapsack whatever articles I could in a hurry, and, thrusting +them into my pockets, I fought on foot until a hussar gave me his +horse. All that I was worth was in my pockets, so that to make room +for the cherries I was obliged to take the pocket-book out of my +pocket and place it here beneath my vest. The enemy, who had been +driven back, made a feint of advancing on us, and I led down my +hussars in gallant style. But suddenly we found ourselves in front +of a body of infantry concealed behind a hedge. One of them fired +at me, and the fellow had taken good aim, for the ball struck me +here on the breast. But it rebounded from the pocket-book; +otherwise, I should have been shot through the body and fallen dead +on the spot. Tell me," said he, in a tone of deep emotion; "was not +that little child an instrument in the hand of God to save me from +death? Am I right or not when I give Caroline the credit, under +God, of having saved my life? Her must I thank that my Amelia is +not a widow and my daughters orphans."</p> +<p>All agreed with him. His wife, who had Caroline's hand locked in +her own during the whole narrative, now pressed it affectionately +and with tears in her eyes.</p> +<p>"You, then," said she, "were the good angel that averted such a +terrible misfortune from our family?"</p> +<p>Her two daughters also gazed with pleasure at Caroline.</p> +<p>"Every time we ate cherries," said the younger, "we spoke of you +without knowing you."</p> +<p>All had kind and grateful words for the young girl, but the +colonel soon bade her farewell for the present, and said that he +had some business to attend to with his brother-in-law. This +business was to urge the count to appoint Ehrenberg his steward in +place of the one who had died a few months before. A better man, he +said, could not be found; for when he had visited Rebenheim to make +inquiries for the family, although none could tell where they had +gone, all were loud in their praise, and the mayor was pronounced a +pattern of justice, honor and charity.</p> +<p>The count drew out the order, signed it, and gave it to his +brother-in-law, who wished himself to take it to Mr. Ehrenberg; and +he went at once to the house and saluted him as "master-steward of +Buchenhaim."</p> +<p>"Read that," he said to the astonished man as he handed him the +paper in which he was duly appointed steward of Buchenhaim, with a +good salary of a thousand thalers and several valuable +perquisites.</p> +<p>"And you," said the colonel to Caroline and her mother, "must +prepare to remove at once. Your lodgings are so confined! But you +will find it very different in the house which you are to occupy in +Buchenhaim. The dwelling is large and commodious, with a fine +garden attached, well stocked with cherry trees. Next Monday you +will be there, and this very day you must start. What a happy feast +we shall have there!--not like the hasty meal you gave the +hussar-officer amid the thunder of cannon and the blazing roofs of +Rebenheim. Do not forget to have cherries, dear Caroline, for +dessert; I think they will be fully ripe by that time."</p> +<p>With these words the colonel hurried away to escape the thanks +of this good family, and, in truth, to conceal his own tears. So +rapidly did he disappear that Ehrenberg could scarcely accompany +him down the steps.</p> +<p>"Oh, Caroline," said the happy father when he returned, "who +could have imagined that the little cherry tree I planted in the +flower-garden the day you were born would ever produce such good +fruit?"</p> +<p>"It was the providence of God," exclaimed the mother, clasping +her hands. "I remember distinctly the first time the blossoms +appeared on that tree, when you and I went out to look at it, and +little Caroline, then an infant in my arms, was so much delighted +with the white flowers. We resolved then to educate our daughter +piously, and prayed fervently to God that she, who was then as full +of promise as the blossoms on the tree, might by his grace one day +be the prop of our old age. That prayer is now fulfilled beyond our +fondest anticipations. Praise for ever be to the name of God!"</p> +<p>Edith declared that this was one of the very sweetest stories +Miss Harson had ever told them, and Clara and Malcolm were equally +well pleased with it.</p> +<p>"Were those cherries like ours?" asked Clara.</p> +<p>"They were larger and finer than ours generally are, I think," +was the reply, "being the great northern cherry, or bird-cherry, of +Europe, which grows in Germany to great perfection. And the little +German girl's plate of cherries, which she so generously urged upon +a stranger when food of any kind was so scarce, is a beautiful +illustration of the first verse of the eleventh chapter of +Proverbs: 'Cast thy bread upon the waters; for thou shalt find it +after many days.'"</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII." id="CHAPTER_XII."></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2> +<h3><i>THE MULBERRY FAMILY</i>.</h3> +<br> +<p>"There is a fruit tree," said Miss Harson, "belonging to an +entirely different family, which we have not considered yet; and, +although it is not a common tree with us, one specimen of it is to +be found in Mrs. Bush's garden, where you have all enjoyed the +fruit very much. What is it?"</p> +<p>"Mulberry," said Clara, promptly, while Malcolm was wondering +what it could be.</p> +<p>"Oh yes," said Edith, very innocently; "I like to go and see +Mrs. Bush when there are mulberries."</p> +<p>Mrs. Bush was not a cheerful person to visit, as she was quite +old and rather hard of hearing, and she lived alone in the gloomy +old house with the Lombardy poplars in front, where everything +looked dark and shut up. A queer woman in a sunbonnet, nearly as +old as Mrs. Bush, lived close by, and "kept an eye on her," as she +said.</p> +<p>Mrs. Bush's great enjoyment was to have visitors of all ages, to +whom she talked a great deal, and cried as she talked, about a +daughter who had died a few years ago. The little Kyles did not +care to go there except when, as Edith said, there were ripe +mulberries; but Mrs. Bush liked very much to have them, and Miss +Harson took her little charges there occasionally, because, as she +explained to them, it gave pleasure to a lonely old woman, and such +visits were just as much charity, though of a different kind, as +giving food and clothes to those who need them. The children +delighted in the mulberries just because they did not have them at +home, although they had fruit that was very much nicer; but Miss +Harson never wished even to taste them, although she too had liked +them when a little girl.</p> +<p>"The mulberry tree," continued their governess, "belongs to the +bread-fruit family, but the other members of this remarkable +family, except the Osage orange, are found only in foreign +countries. The bread-fruit tree itself, the fig, the Indian fig, or +banyan tree, and the deadly upas tree, are all relations of the +mulberry."</p> +<p>"Well, trees are queer things," exclaimed Malcolm, "to belong to +families that are not a bit alike."</p> +<p>"They are alike in important points, when we examine them +carefully," was the reply. "The bread-fruit genus consists, with a +single exception, of trees and shrubs with alternate, toothed or +lobed or entire leaves and milky juice. This reminds me that the +famous cow tree of South America, which yields a large supply of +rich and wholesome milk, is one of the members; and you see what a +number of famous trees we have on hand now. There are several kinds +of mulberries--the red, black, white and paper mulberry, which are +all occasionally found in this country, and they were once quite +popular here for their shade. The fruit is unusually small for +tree-fruit, and very soft when ripe, as you all know; it is not +unlike a long, narrow blackberry, and forms, like it, a compound +fruit, as though many small berries had grown together. The tree in +Mrs. Bush's garden is the black mulberry, as any one might know by +the stained lips and hands that sometimes come from there; and it +has been cultivated from ancient times for its fine appearance and +shade. It is found wild in the forests of Persia, and is thought to +have been taken from there to Europe. The tree is more beautiful +than useful, for the silkworms do not thrive well on the leaves and +the wood is neither strong nor durable."</p> +<p>"Why, I thought," said Clara, "that silkworms always lived on +mulberry-leaves?"</p> +<p>"The white mulberry is their favorite food; and another species, +called the <i>Morus multicaulis</i>--for <i>Morus</i> is the +scientific name of the family--has more delicate leaves than any +other, and produces a finer quality of silk. These trees are +natives of China, and the white mulberry grows very rapidly to the +height of thirty or forty feet. The paper mulberry is so called +because in China and Japan--of which it is a native--its bark is +manufactured into paper. In the South-Sea Islands, where it is also +found, the bark is made into the curious dresses which we sometimes +see imported thence. It is a low, thick-branched tree with large +light-colored downy leaves and dark-scarlet fruit."</p> +<p>"I wonder," said Malcolm, "if the bark is like birch-bark?"</p> +<p>"It does not look like it," replied Miss Harson, "but it seems +to be very much of the same nature. The red mulberry and black +mulberry are the most hardy of these trees, and the red mulberry +will thrive farther north than any of the family. The wood is +valuable for many purposes for which timber is used, and especially +in boat-building. And now, as we learned something about silkworms +and their cocoons in our talks about insects<a name="FNanchor15" +id="FNanchor15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15">[15]</a>, there is +little more to be said of the mulberry tree which any but learned +people would care to know."</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_15" id="Footnote_15"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor15">[15]</a> See <i>Flyers and Crawlers</i>. Presbyterian +Board of Publication.</blockquote> +<p>"I want to hear about the bread tree," said little Edith, "and +how the loaves of bread grow on it."</p> +<p>"Do they, Miss Harson?" asked Clara, not exactly seeing how this +could be.</p> +<p>"I don't believe they're very hot," remarked Malcolm, who was +puzzled over the bread-fruit tree himself, but who laughed at his +little sister's idea in a very knowing way. It was not an +ill-natured laugh, though, and a glance from his governess always +quieted him.</p> +<p>"No, dear," replied Miss Harson, answering Clara; "loaves of +bread do not grow on any tree. But I will tell you about the +bread-fruit presently; let us finish the <i>Morus</i> family and +their kindred in our own country before we go to their foreign +relations. The Osage orange is so much used in the United States, +and in this part of it, for hedges, on account of its rapid growth +and ornamental appearance, that we really ought to know something +about it. 'It is a beautiful low, spreading, round-headed tree with +the port and splendor of an orange tree. Its oval, entire, polished +leaves have the shining green of natives of warmer regions, and its +curiously-tesselated, succulent compound fruit the size and golden +color of an orange. It was first found in the country of the Osage +Indians, from whom it gets its name, and it has since been +cultivated in many parts of this country and in Europe. The Osages +belonged to the Sioux, or Dacotah, tribe of Indians, and their home +was in the south-western part of the old United States. The Osage +orange--a tree from thirty to forty feet high with leaves even more +bright and glossy than those of the ordinary orange--was first +found growing wild near one of their villages."</p> +<p>"But what a very high hedge it would make!" said Malcolm.</p> +<p>"Yes, if left to its natural growth, it would be a very absurd +fence indeed. But this is not the case; the branches spread out +very widely, and by cutting off the tops and trimming the remainder +twice in a season a very handsome thickset hedge is produced, with +lustrous leaves and sharp, straight thorns. Another name for this +tree is yellow-wood, or bow-wood, because the wood is of a +bright-yellow color, and the grain is so fine and elastic that the +Southern Indians have been in the habit of using it to make their +bows. The experiment of feeding silkworms upon the leaves has been +tried, but it was not very successful."</p> +<p>"I suppose the worms didn't know that it belonged to the +mulberry family," said Clara, "and I don't see now why it +does."</p> +<p>For reply, her governess read:</p> +<p>"'The sap of the young wood and of the leaves is <i>milky</i> +and contains a large proportion of caoutchouc.'"</p> +<p>"Oh!" exclaimed Malcolm; "that sounds just like sneezing. What +is it, Miss Harson?"</p> +<p>"Something that you wear on your feet and over your shoulders in +wet weather; so now guess."</p> +<p>"Overshoes!" replied Clara, in a great hurry.</p> +<p>"How many of them do you wear over your shoulders at once?" +asked her brother. "And it must be a queer kind of sap that has +overshoes in it. Why couldn't you say 'India-rubber'?"</p> +<p>"And why couldn't <i>you</i> say it before Clara put it into +your head by saying 'Overshoes?" asked Miss Harson. "Clara has the +right idea, only she did not express it in the clearest way. The +sap of the caoutchouc, or India-rubber, tree is the most valuable +yet discovered, and, as it is of a milky nature, it can very +properly be brought into the present class of trees."</p> +<p>"Is <i>that</i> a mulberry too?" asked Clara, who thought that +the size of the family was getting beyond all bounds.</p> +<p>"It is not really set down as belonging to the bread-fruit +family," was the reply, "but it certainly has the peculiarity of +their milky sap. However, as I know that you are all eager to hear +about the bread-fruit tree, we will take that next. This tree is +found in various tropical regions, but principally in the South-Sea +Islands, where it is about forty feet high. The immense leaves are +half a yard long and over a quarter wide, and are deeply divided +into sharp lobes. The fruit looks like a very large green berry, +being about the size of a cocoanut or melon, and the proper time +for gathering it is about a week before it is ripe. When baked, it +is not very unlike bread. It is cooked by being cut into several +pieces, which are baked in an oven in the ground. It is often eaten +with orange-juice and cocoanut-milk. Some of the South-Sea +islanders depend very much upon it for their food. The large seeds, +when roasted, are said to taste like the best chestnuts. The pulp, +which is the bread-part, is said to resemble a baked potato and is +very white and tender, but, unless eaten soon after the fruit is +gathered, it grows hard and choky."</p> +<p class="ctr"><img src="Images/224.png" width="40%" alt=""><br> +<b>THE BREAD-FRUIT.</b></p> +<p>"So Edie's 'loaves of bread' are green?" said Malcolm, rather +teasingly.</p> +<p>"That's because they grow on a tree," replied Clara. "Our loaves +of bread are raw dough before they're baked, and they are grains of +wheat before they are dough."</p> +<p>"That is quite true, dear," replied her governess, laughing, +"and we must teach Malcolm not to be quite so critical.--The +bread-fruit is a wonderful tree, and it certainly does bear +uncooked loaves of bread, at least, for they require no kneading to +be ready for the oven. The fruit is to be found on the tree for +eight months of the year--which is very different from any of our +fruits--and two or three bread-fruit trees will supply one man with +food all the year round."</p> +<p>"Put what does he do when there is no fresh fruit on them?" +asked Malcolm. "You told us that it was not good to eat unless it +was fresh."</p> +<p>"We should not think it good, but the native makes it into a +sour paste called <i>mahé</i>, and the people of the islands +eat this during the four months when the fresh fruit is not to be +had. The bread-fruit is said to be very nourishing, and it can be +prepared in various ways. The timber of this tree, though soft, is +found useful in building houses and boats; the flowers, when dried, +serve for tinder; the viscid, milky juice answers for birdlime and +glue; the leaves, for towels and packing; and the inner bark, +beaten together, makes one species of the South-Sea cloth."</p> +<p>"What a very useful tree!" exclaimed Clara.</p> +<p>"It is indeed," replied Miss Harson; "and this is the case with +many of the trees found in these warm countries, where the +inhabitants know little of the arts and manufactures, and would +almost starve rather than exert themselves very greatly. There is +another species of bread-fruit, called the jaca, or jack, tree, +found on the mainland of Asia, which produces its fruit on +different parts of the tree, according to its age. When the tree is +young, the fruit grows from the twigs; in middle age it grows from +the trunk; and when the tree gets old, it grows from the +roots."</p> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/227.png"><img src="Images/227.png" +width="40%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>JACK-FRUIT TREE.</b></p> +<p>There was a picture of the jack tree with fruit growing out of +the trunk and great branches like melons, and the children crowded +eagerly around to look at it. All agreed that it was the very +queerest tree they had yet heard of.</p> +<p>"The fruit is even larger than that of the island bread-fruit," +continued their governess, "but it is not so pleasant to our taste, +nor is it so nourishing. It often weighs over thirty pounds and has +two or three hundred seeds, each of which is four times as large as +an almond and is surrounded by a pulp which is greatly relished by +the natives of India. The seeds, or nuts, are roasted, like those +of smaller fruit, and make very good chestnuts. The fruit has a +strong odor not very agreeable to noses not educated to it."</p> +<p>"Miss Harson," said Malcolm, "what is the upas tree like, and +why is it called <i>deadly</i>?"</p> +<p>"It is a tree eighty feet high, with white and slightly-furrowed +bark; the branches, which are very thick, grow nearly at the top, +dividing into smaller ones, which form an irregular sort of crown +to the tall, straight trunk. There is no reason for calling it +<i>deadly</i> except a foolish notion and the fact that a very +strong poison is prepared from the milky sap. The tree grows in the +island of Java, and for a long time many fabulous stories were told +of its dangerous nature. Travelers in that region would send home +the wildest and most improbable stories of the poison tree, until +the very name of the upas was enough to make people shudder. It is +said that a Dutch surgeon stationed on the island did much to keep +up the impression. He wrote an account of the valley in which the +upas was said to be growing alone, for no tree nor shrub was to be +found near it. And he declared that neither animal nor bird could +breathe the noxious effluvia from the tree without instant death. +In fact, he called this fatal spot 'The Valley of Death.'"</p> +<p>"And wasn't it true, Miss Harson?"</p> +<p>"Not all true, Clara; some one who had spent many years in Java +proved these stories to be entirely false. Instead of growing in a +dismal valley by itself, the graceful-looking upas tree is found in +the most fertile spots, among other trees, and very often climbing +plants are twisted round its trunk, while birds nestle in the +branches. It can be handled, too, like any other tree; and all this +is as unlike the Dutch surgeon's account as possible. One of his +stories was that the criminals on the island were employed to +collect the poison from the trunk of the tree; that they were +permitted to choose whether to die by the hand of the executioner +or to go to the upas for a box of its fatal juice; and that the +ground all about the tree was strewed with the dead bodies of those +who had perished on this errand."</p> +<p>"Oh," exclaimed Edith, "wasn't that dreadful?"</p> +<p>"The story was dreadful, dear, but it was only a story, you +know: the upas tree did not kill people at all; and to turn the +milky juice into a dangerous poison took a great deal of time and +trouble. It was mixed with various spices and fermented; when ready +for use, it was poured into the hollow joints of bamboo and +carefully kept from the air. Both for war and for the chase arrows +are dipped in this fatal preparation, and the effect has been +witnessed by naturalists on animals, and also on man. The instant +it touches the blood it is carried through the whole system, so +that it may be felt in all the veins and causes a burning +sensation, especially in the head, which is followed by sickness +and death."</p> +<p>"Well," said Clara, drawing a long breath, "I'm glad that I +don't live in Java."</p> +<p>"The poisoned arrows are not constantly flying about in Java, +dear," replied her governess, with a smile, "and I do not think you +would be in any danger from them; but there are a great many other +reasons why it is not pleasant, except for natives, to live in +Java. There are a number of Dutch settlers there, because the +island was conquered by the Dutch nation, but while war with the +natives was going on they suffered terribly from these poisoned +arrows; so that the very name of upas caused them to tremble. The +word 'upas,' in the language of the natives, means poison, and +there is in the island a valley called the upas, or poison, valley. +It has nothing, however, to do with the tree, which does not grow +anywhere in the neighborhood. That valley may literally be called +'The Valley of Death.' We are told that it came to exist in this +way: The largest mountain in Java was once partly buried in a very +dreadful manner. In the middle of a summer night the people in the +neighborhood perceived a luminous cloud that seemed wholly to +envelop the mountain. They were extremely alarmed and took to +flight, but ere they could escape a terrific noise was heard, like +the discharge of cannon, and part of the mountain fell in and +disappeared. At the same moment quantities of stones and lava were +thrown to the distance of several miles. Fifteen miles of ground +covered with villages and plantations were swallowed up or buried +under the lava from the mountain; and when all was over and people +tried to visit the scene of the disaster, they could not approach +it on account of the heat of the stones and other substances piled +upon one another. And yet as much as six weeks had elapsed since +the catastrophe. This upas valley is about half a mile in +circumference, and the vapor that escapes through the cracks and +fissures is fatal to every living thing. Here, indeed, are to be +seen the bones of animals and birds, and even the skeletons of +human beings who were unfortunate enough to enter and were +overpowered by the deadly vapor. And now," added Miss Harson, "I +have given you this account to make you understand that the famous +upas valley of Java is not a valley of upas trees, but one of +poisonous vapors."</p> +<p>"And the deadly upas," said Malcolm, "is not deadly, after all! +I think I shall remember that."</p> +<p>"And I too," said Clara and Edith, who had listened with great +interest to the description.</p> +<p>"Shall we have some figs now, by way of variety?" was a question +that caused three pairs of eyes to turn rather expectantly on the +speaker; for figs were very popular with the small people of +Elmridge.</p> +<p class="ctr"><img src="Images/234.png" width="60%" alt=""><br> +<b>THE BANYAN TREE.</b></p> +<p>"Not in the way of refreshments, just at present," continued +their governess, "but only as belonging to the mulberry family; and +we will begin with that curious tree the banyan, or Indian fig. +This stately and beautiful tree is found on the banks of the river +Ganges and in many parts of India, and is a tree much valued and +venerated by the Hindu. He plants it near the temple of his idol; +and if the village in which he resides does not possess any such +edifice, he uses the banyan for a temple and places the idol +beneath it. Here, every morning and evening, he performs the rites +of his heathen worship. And, more than this, he considers the tree, +with its out-stretched and far-sheltering arms, an emblem of the +creator of all things."</p> +<p>"Is that only one tree?" asked Malcolm as Miss Harson displayed +a picture that was more like a small grove. "Why, it looks like two +or three trees together."</p> +<p>"Does it grow up from the ground or down from the air?" asked +Clara. "Just look at these queer branches with one end fast to the +tree and the other end fast to the ground!"</p> +<p>Edith thought that the branches which had not reached the ground +looked like snakes, but, for all that, it was certainly a grand +tree.</p> +<p>"The peculiar growth of the banyan," continued Miss Harson, +"renders it an object of beauty and produces those column-like +stems that cause it to become a grove in itself. It may be said to +grow, not from the seed, but from the branches. They spread out +horizontally, and each branch sends out a number of rootlets that +at first hang from it like slender cords and wave about in the +wind.--Those are your 'snakes,' Edith.--But by degrees they reach +the ground and root themselves into it; then the cord tightens and +thickens and becomes a stem, acting like a prop to the +widespreading branch of the parent plant. Indeed, column on column +is added in this manner, the books tell us, so long as the +mother-tree can support its numerous progeny."</p> +<p>"How very strange!" said Clara. "The mulberry seems to have some +very funny relations."</p> +<p>"Such a great tree ought to bear very large figs," added +Malcolm.</p> +<p>"On the contrary," replied his governess, "it bears uncommonly +small ones--no larger than a hazel-nut, and of a red color. They +are not considered eatable by the natives, but birds and animals +feed upon them, and in the leafy bower of the banyan are found the +peacock, the monkey and the squirrel. Here, too, are a myriad of +pigeons as green as the leaf and with eyes and feet of a brilliant +red. They are so like the foliage in color that they can be seen +only by the practiced eye of the hunter, and even he would fail to +detect them were it not for their restless movements. As they +flutter about from branch to branch they are apt to fall victims to +his skill in shooting his arrows."</p> +<p>"If they would only keep still!" exclaimed Edith, who felt a +strong sympathy for the green pigeons. "Poor pretty things! Why +don't they, Miss Harson, instead of getting killed?"</p> +<p>"They do not know their danger until it is too late, and it is +quite as hard for them to keep still as it is for little +girls."</p> +<p>Edith wondered if that meant her; she was a little girl, but she +did not think she was so very restless. However, Miss Harson didn't +tell her, and she soon forgot it in listening to what was said of +the queer tree with branches like snakes.</p> +<p>"The leaves of the banyan tree are large and soft and of a very +bright green, and the deep shade and pillared walks are so welcome +to the Hindu that he even tries to improve on Nature and coax the +shoots to grow just where he wishes them. He binds wet clay and +moss on the branch to make the rootlet sprout."</p> +<p>"Will it grow then?" asked Malcolm.</p> +<p>"Yes, just as a cutting planted in the earth will grow, although +it seems a very odd style of gardening.--The sacred fig tree of +India--<i>Ficus religiosa</i>--is a near relative of the banyan, +and very much like it in general appearance; but the leaves are on +such slender stalks that they tremble like those of the aspen. It +is known as the bo tree of Ceylon, and is said to have been placed +in charge of the priests long before the present race of +inhabitants had appeared in the island."</p> +<p>"Where do the real figs grow?" asked Clara.</p> +<p>"In a great many moderately warm or sub-tropical countries," was +the reply, "but Smyrna figs are the most celebrated. Immense +quantities of the fruit are dried and packed in Asiatic Turkey for +exportation from this city, and it is said that in the fig season +nothing else is talked about there."</p> +<p>"I didn't know that they were dried," said Malcolm, in great +surprise; "I thought they were just packed tight in boxes and then +sent off."</p> +<p class="ctr"><img src="Images/239.png" width="35%" alt=""><br> +<b>LEAF AND FRUIT OF THE FIG TREE.</b></p> +<p>"'In its native country,'" read Miss Harson, "'and when growing +on the tree, the fig presents a different appearance from the dried +and packed specimens we see in this country. It is a firm and +fleshy fruit, and has a delicious honey-drop hanging from the +point.' And here," she added, "is a small branch from the fig tree, +with fruit growing on it."</p> +<p>"Why, it's shaped like a pear!" exclaimed Malcolm.</p> +<p>"And what large, pretty leaves it has!" said Clara.</p> +<p>"'The fig tree is common in Palestine and the East,'" Miss +Harson continued to read, "'and flourishes with the greatest +luxuriance in those barren and stony situations, where little else +will grow. Its large size and its abundance of five-lobed leaves +render it a pleasant shade-tree, and its fruit furnishes a +wholesome food very much used in all the lands of the Bible.' Figs +were among the fruits mentioned in the 'land that flowed with milk +and honey,' and it was a symbol of peace and plenty, as you will +find, Malcolm, by reading to us from First Kings, fourth chapter, +twenty-fifth verse."</p> +<p>"'And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine +and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of +Solomon.'--That's what it means, then!" said Malcolm, when he had +finished reading the verse. "I've heard people say, 'Under your own +vine and fig tree,' and I couldn't tell what they meant."</p> +<p>"Yes," replied his governess, "some persons make very free with +the words of Holy Scripture and twist them to suit meanings for +which they were not intended. Having a house of one's own is +usually meant by this quotation, and almost the same words are +repeated in other parts of the Old Testament. The fig is often +mentioned in the Bible, and two kinds are spoken of--the very early +fig, and the one that ripens late in the summer. The early fig was +considered the best; and I think that Clara will tell us what is +said of it by the prophet Jeremiah."</p> +<p>Clara read slowly:</p> +<p>"'One basket had very good figs, <i>even like the figs that are +first ripe</i>; and the other basket had very naughty figs, which +could not be eaten, they were so bad<a name="FNanchor16" id= +"FNanchor16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16">[16]</a>.'"</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_16" id="Footnote_16"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor16">[16]</a> Jer. xxiv. 2.</blockquote> +<p>"But can figs be naughty, Miss Harson?" asked Edith, with very +wide-open eyes. "I thought that only children were naughty,"</p> +<p>"There are 'naughty' grown people as well as naughty children," +was the reply, "and inanimate things like figs in old times were +called naughty too, in the sense of being bad.--The fruit of the +fig tree appears not only before the leaves, but without any sign +of blossoms, the flowers being small and hidden in the little +buttons which first shoot out from the points of the sterns, and +around which the outer and firm part of the fig grows. The leaves +come out so late in the season that our Saviour said, 'Now learn a +parable of the fig tree; when his branch is yet tender, and putteth +forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh<a name="FNanchor17" id= +"FNanchor17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17">[17]</a>.' Did not our Lord +say something else about a fig tree?"</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_17" id="Footnote_17"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor17">[17]</a> Matt. xxiv. 32.</blockquote> +<p>"Yes," replied Clara; "the one that was withered away because it +had no figs on it."</p> +<p>"The barren fig tree which was withered at our Saviour's word, +as an awful warning to unfruitful professors of religion, seems to +have spent itself in leaves. It stood by the wayside, free to all, +and, as the time for stripping the trees of their fruit had not +come--for in Mark we are told that 'the time of figs was not +yet<a name="FNanchor18" id="FNanchor18"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_18">[18]</a>'--it was reasonable to expect to find it +covered with figs in various stages of growth. Yet there was +'nothing thereon, but leaves only.' Find the nineteenth verse of +the twenty-first chapter of Matthew, Malcolm, and read what is said +there."</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_18" id="Footnote_18"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor18">[18]</a> Mark xi. 13.</blockquote> +<p>"'And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and +found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no +fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig +tree withered away.'"</p> +<p>"A fig tree having leaves," said Miss Harson, "should also have +figs, for these, as I have already told you, appear before the +leaves, and both are on the tree at the same time; so that, +although unripe figs are seen without leaves, leaves should not be +seen without figs; and if it was not yet the season for figs, it +was not the season for leaves either. The barren fig tree has often +been compared to people who make a show of goodness in words, but +leave the doing of good works to others; and when anything is +expected of them, there is sure to be disappointment. 'Nothing but +leaves' has become a proverb; and when it can be used to express +the barren condition of those who profess to follow the teachings +of our Lord, it is sad indeed."</p> +<p>"Do fig trees grow wild?" asked Clara, presently.</p> +<p>"Yes," was the reply, "and very curious-looking things they are. +'Their roots twist into all kinds of whimsical contortions, so as +to look more like a mass of snakes than the roots of a tree. They +unite themselves so closely to the substances that come in their +way, such as the face of rocks, or even the stems of other trees, +that nothing can pull them away. And in some parts of India these +strong, tough roots are made to serve the purpose of bridges and +twisted over some stream or cataract. The wild fig is often a +dangerous parasite, and does not attain perfection without +completing some work of destruction among its neighbors in the +forest. A slender rootlet may sometimes be seen hanging from the +crown of a palm. The seed was carried there by some bird that had +fed upon the fruit of a wild fig, and it rooted itself with +surprising facility. The rootlet, as it descends, envelops the +column-like stem of the palm with a woody network, and at length +reaches the ground. Meanwhile, the true stem of the parasite shoots +upward from the crown of the palm. It sends out numberless +rootlets, each of which, as soon as it reaches the ground, takes +root; and between them the palm is stifled and perishes, leaving +the fig in undisturbed possession. The parasite does not, however, +long survive the decline; for, no longer fed by the juices of the +palm, it also, in process of time, begins to languish and +decline.'"</p> +<p>"What a mean thing it is!" exclaimed Malcolm--"as mean as the +cuckoo, that lays its eggs in other birds' nests. And I'm glad it +dies when it has killed the palm tree; it just serves it right. But +don't figs ever grow in this country, Miss Harson?"</p> +<p>"Yes," replied his governess; "they are cultivated in the +Southern States and in California, like many other semi-tropical +fruits, and are principally eaten fresh, but for drying they are +not equal to the imported ones. No doubt the cultivation of figs in +California will become a prosperous trade, for the climate and +circumstances there are much like those of Syria."</p> +<br> +<p class="ctr"><img src="Images/246.png" width="40%" alt=""><br> +<b>DWARF FIG TREE IN A POT.</b></p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII." id="CHAPTER_XIII."></a>CHAPTER +XIII.</h2> +<h3><i>QUEER RELATIONS: THE CAOUTCHOUC AND THE MILK TREE</i>.</h3> +<br> +<p>"What dark, strange-looking trees!" exclaimed the children while +looking at an illustration of caoutchouc trees in Brazil. "How +thick and strong they are! And what funny tops!--like pointed +umbrellas."</p> +<p>"The India-rubber tree is not likely to be mistaken for any +other," said their governess, "and it does not look very dark and +gloomy in that forest, where everything seems to be crowded close +and in a tangle, because South American vegetation grows so thickly +and rapidly. This is the country which supplies the largest +quantity of India-rubber. Immense cargoes are shipped from the town +of Para, on the river Amazon, and obtained from the <i>Siphonia +elastica</i>."</p> +<p>"Are the stems all made of India-rubber?" asked Edith, who +thought that was exactly what they looked like.</p> +<p>"Are the stems of the maple trees made of maple-sugar?" replied +Miss Harson. "The India-rubber is got from its tree as the sugar is +from the maple tree. It is taken from the trunk in the shape of a +very thick milky fluid, and it is said that no other vital fluid, +whether in animal or in plant, contains so much solid material +within it; and it is a matter of surprise that the sap, thus +encumbered, can circulate through all the delicate vessels of the +tree. Tropical heat is required to form the caoutchouc; for when +the tree is cultivated in hothouses, the substance of the sap is +quite different. The full-grown trees are very handsome, with round +column-like trunks about sixty feet high, and the crown of foliage +is said to resemble that of the ash."</p> +<p>"Did people always know about India-rubber?" asked Clara.</p> +<p>"No indeed! It is not more than a hundred and fifty +years--perhaps not so long--since it was a great curiosity; so that +a piece half an inch square would sell in London for nearly a +dollar of our money, but now it comes in shiploads, and a pound of +it costs less than quarter of that sum. It is used for so many +purposes that it seems as if the world could never have gone on +without it. All sorts of outside garments to keep out the rain are +made of it. Waterproof cloaks are called macintoshes in England +because this was the name of the person who invented them. +India-rubber is also used for tents and many other things, and, as +water cannot get through it, there is a great saving of trouble and +expense."</p> +<p>"It must be splendid for tents," said Malcolm; "no one need +care, when snug under cover, whether or not it rained in the +woods."</p> +<p>"People do care, though," was the reply, "for they expect, when +in the woods, to live out of doors; but the India-rubber is +certainly a great improvement on tents that get soaked +through."</p> +<p>"I like it," said Edith, "because it rubs things out. When I +draw a house and it's all wrong, my piece of India-rubber will take +it away, and then I can make another one on the paper."</p> +<p>"That is the very smallest of its uses," replied Miss Harson, +smiling at the little girl's earnestness, "and yet we find it a +great convenience. An English writer, speaking of it when it was +first known in England, said that he had seen a substance that +would efface from paper the marks of a black-lead pencil, and he +thought it must be of use to those who practiced drawing."</p> +<p>"How funny that sounds!" exclaimed Malcolm. "Why, I couldn't get +along without my India-rubber when I make mistakes,"</p> +<p>"You might," said his governess, "if you had some stale bread to +rub with; for people <i>have</i> gotten along without a great many +things which they now think necessary."</p> +<p>"Miss Harson," said Clara, "won't you tell us, please, how they +get the caoutch--whatever it is--and make it into +India-rubber?"</p> +<p>"I will," was the laughing reply, "when you can say the word +properly. C-a-o-u-t-c-h-o-u-c--koochook."</p> +<p>As Clara said, Miss Harson made things so easy to understand! +and in a very short time the hard word was mastered.</p> +<p>"As I have never seen the sap gathered," continued the young +lady, "I shall have to read you an account of it, instead of +telling you from my own experience; but the description is so plain +that I think we shall all be able to understand it very well: 'At +certain seasons of the year the natives visit some islands in the +river Amazon that for many months are covered with water. As soon +as the water subsides and a footing can be obtained the Indians +arrive in parties, to seek for the trees. The Indian who comes +every morning to collect the juice from the trunk has a number of +trees allotted to him, and goes the round of the whole. The +previous night he has made a long, deep cut in the bark of each and +hung an earthen vessel beneath, to receive the thick, creamlike +substance that trickles down. The vessel is filled by morning, and +he pours the contents into one much larger and carries it to his +hut. He is provided with a number of moulds of different shapes and +sizes, and he dips them into the juice and puts them aside to dry. +They are then dipped again, and the process is continued until the +coat of India-rubber on the mould is of sufficient thickness. It is +made black by passing it through the smoke of burning palm-nuts. +The moulds are broken and taken out, leaving the India-rubber ready +for sale, and pretty much as we used to see it in the shops before +the people of this country had learned how to work it.'"</p> +<p>"That seems easy enough," said Malcolm, "but how do they make it +into gutta-percha?"</p> +<p>"Gutta-percha is not made," replied his governess, "and it is +taken from an entirely different tree, the <i>Icosandra gutta</i>, +which grows in Southern Asia. The milky fluid is procured in the +same way, but it is placed in vessels to evaporate, and the solid +substance left at the bottom is the gutta-percha. It is not +elastic, like India-rubber, and is called 'vegetable leather' +because of its toughness and leathery appearance. It was discovered +by an English traveler a long time before it was supposed to have +any useful properties, but now it is considered a very valuable +material. The wonderful submarine telegraph could not convey its +messages between the Old World and the New were not its wires +protected from injury by a coating of gutta-percha. Its unyielding +nature and its not being elastic render it the very material +needed. The long straps used in working machines are also made of +gutta-percha, and this is another instance where its non-elasticity +gives it the preference over India-rubber."</p> +<p>"And what is vulcanite?" asked Clara.</p> +<p>"It is caoutchouc mixed with sulphur. Unless a small quantity of +brimstone is added in the manufacture of overshoes, they become +soft when exposed to heat and hardened when exposed to cold; but it +was discovered that the sulphur will keep them from being affected +by changes in temperature. When a large amount of sulphur is used, +the India-rubber, becomes as hard as horn or wood, and this is the +substance called vulcanite. Now the gum is imported in masses, to +be wrought over by our skillful mechanics."</p> +<p>The children were very much pleased to find that they had +learned the nature of three important articles--India-rubber, +gutta-percha and vulcanite--and they thought it would be quite easy +to remember the differences between them.</p> +<p>"And now," said Miss Harson, "the last of these useful +trees--the cow tree, or milk tree--is the most curious one of all. +Like the caoutchouc, it is a native of South America; but the sap +is a rich fluid that answers for food, like milk. It is a +fine-looking tree with oblong, pointed leaves about ten inches in +length and a fleshy fruit containing one or two nuts. The sap is +the most valuable part; and when incisions are made in the trunk of +the tree, there is an abundant flow of thick milk-like sap, which +is described as having an agreeable and balmv smell. The German +traveler Humboldt drank it from the shell of a calabash, and the +natives dip their bread of maize or cassava in it. This milk is +said to be very fattening; and when exposed to the air, it thickens +into a substance which the people call cheese."</p> +<p>"Milk and cheese from a tree!" exclaimed Malcolm. "Do you think +we'd like them as well as ours, Miss Harson?"</p> +<p>"No," was the reply, "I do not think we should; but if we had +never known any other kind, it would be quite a different matter, +and the traveler says that both smell and taste are agreeable. The +sap, it seems, is like curdled milk, and the natives say that they +can tell, from the thickness and color of the foliage, the trunks +that yield the most juice. This wonderful tree will be found +growing on the side of a barren rock, and its large, woody roots +can scarcely penetrate into the stone. For several months of the +year not a single shower moistens its foliage. Its branches then +appear dead and dried; but when the trunk is pierced, there flows +from it a sweet and nourishing milk. It is at the rising of the sun +that this vegetable fountain is most abundant. The negroes and +natives are then seen hastening from all quarters, furnished with +large bowls to receive the milk, which grows yellow and thickens at +its surface. Some empty their bowls while under the tree itself; +others carry the juice home to their children."</p> +<p>"Isn't it funny," said Edith, laughing, "to go and get their +breakfasts from a <i>tree</i>? I wish we had some milk trees +here."</p> +<p>"But you would not find it pleasant," replied their governess, +"to have some other things that are always found where the milk +tree grows. The intense heat and the swarms of mosquitoes and +biting flies, the serpents and jaguars and other disagreeable and +dangerous creatures, make life in that region anything but +pleasant, and the curious vegetation and delicious fruits are not +worth the suffering inflicted by all these torments."</p> +<p>On hearing of these drawbacks the children soon decided that +their own dear home was the best, and no longer envied the +possessors even of the cow tree.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV." id="CHAPTER_XIV."></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> +<h3><i>HOME AND ABROAD: LINDEN, CAMPHOR, BEECH</i>.</h3> +<br> +<p>"Now," said Miss Harson to her expectant flock, "it is to be +hoped that our foreign wanderings among such wonderful trees have +not spoiled you for home trees, as there are still a number of them +which we have not yet examined."</p> +<p>"No indeed!" they assured her; "they liked to hear about them +all, and they were going to try and remember everything she told +them about the trees."</p> +<p>Their governess said that would be too much to expect, and if +they remembered the most important things she would be quite +satisfied,</p> +<p>"We will take the linden, lime, or basswood, tree--for it has +all three of these names--this evening," she continued, "and there +are nine or ten species of the tree, which are found in America, +Europe and Western Asia. It is a very handsome, regular-looking +tree with rich, thick masses of foliage that make a deep shade. The +leaves are heart-shaped and very finely veined, have +sharply-serrated edges and are four or five inches long. The +leaf-stalk is half the length of the leaf. It blooms in July and +August, and the flowers are yellowish white and very fragrant; when +an avenue of limes is in blossom, the whole atmosphere is filled +with a delightful perfume which can hardly be described."</p> +<p class="ctr"><img src="Images/258.png" width="40%" alt=""><br> +<b>THE LINDEN OR LIME TREE (<i>Tilia</i>).</b></p> +<p>"There are no lime trees here, are there?" asked Clara.</p> +<p>"No," was the reply, "I do not think there are any in this +neighborhood; but they grow abundantly not many miles away. Our +native trees are not so pretty as the English lime, which, clothed +with softer foliage, has a smaller leaf and a neater and more +elegant spray. Ours bears larger and more conspicuous flowers, in +heavier clusters, but of inferior sweetness. Both species are +remarkable for their size and longevity. The young leaves of the +lime are of a bright fresh tint that contrasts strongly with the +very dark color of the branches; and these branches are so finely +divided that their beauty is seen to the greatest advantage when +winter has stripped them bare of leaves.</p> +<p>"'The linden has in all ages been celebrated for the fragrance +of its flowers and the excellence of the honey made from them. The +famous Mount Hybla was covered with lime trees. The aroma from its +flowers is like that of mignonette; it perfumes the whole +atmosphere, and is perceptible to the inhabitants of all the +beehives within a circuit of a mile. The real linden honey is of a +greenish color and delicious taste when taken from the hive +immediately after the trees have been in blossom, and is often sold +for more than the ordinary kind. There is a forest in Lithuania +that abounds in lime trees, and here swarms of wild bees live in +the hollow trunks and collect their honey from the lime.'"</p> +<p class="ctr"><img src="Images/260.png" width="40%" alt=""><br> +<b>LEAF AND FLOWER OF LIME TREE <i>(Tilia)</i>.</b></p> +<p>"What fun it would be, if we were there, to go and get it!" +exclaimed Malcolm. "But don't bees make honey from the lime trees +that grow in this country, too, Miss Harson?"</p> +<p>"Certainly they do; and the beekeepers look anxiously forward to +the blossoming of the trees, because they provide such abundant +supplies for the busy swarms. The flowers have other uses, too, +besides the making of honey: the Swiss are said to obtain a +favorite beverage from them, and in the South of France an infusion +of the blossoms is taken for colds and hoarseness, and also for +fever. 'Active boys climb to the topmost branches and gather the +fragrant flowers, which their mothers catch in their aprons for +that purpose. An avenue of limes has been ravaged and torn in +pieces by the eagerness of the people to gather the blossoms, and +they are often made into tea which is a soft sugary beverage in +taste a little like licorice.'"</p> +<p>"How queer," said Clara, "to make tea from flowers!"</p> +<p>"Is it any queerer," asked her governess, "than to make it from +leaves? I should think that the flowers might even be better, and +yet I should scarcely like lime-tea that tastes like licorice."</p> +<p>The children, though, seemed to think that they would like it, +and Miss Harson had very little doubt that such would be the +case.</p> +<p>"Both the bark and the wood of the lime tree are valuable," she +continued. "The fibres of the bark are strong and firm, and make +excellent ropes and cordage. In Sweden and Russia they are made +into a kind of matting that is very useful for packing-purposes and +in protecting delicate plants from the frost. 'The manufacture of +this useful material is carried on in the summer, close by the +woods and forests where the lime trees grow in abundance. As soon +as the sap begins to ascend freely the bark parts from the wood and +can be taken away with ease. Great strips are then peeled off and +steeped in water until they separate into layers; the layers are +still further divided into smaller strips or ribbons, and are hung +up in the shade of the wood, generally on the very tree itself from +which they have been taken. After a time they are woven into the +matting and sent to market for sale. The Swedish fishermen also +manufacture it into a coarse thread for fishing-nets, and from the +fibres of the young shoots the Russian peasant makes the strong +shoes he wears, using the outer bark for the soles. In Italy the +garments of the poorer people are often made of cloth woven from +this material."</p> +<p>"Why, people can fairly <i>live</i> on trees," said Malcolm. "I +didn't know that they were good for anything but shade--except the +trees that have fruit and nuts on 'em."</p> +<p>"There is a great deal for us all to learn of the works of the +Creator," replied Miss Harson, "and the blessing of trees is not +half known. The wood of the lime is said never to be worm-eaten; it +is very soft and smooth and of a pale-yellow color. It is used for +the famous Tunbridge ware, and is called the carver's tree, +because, as the poet says,</p> +<blockquote>"'Smooth linden best obeys<br> +The carver's chisel--best his curious work<br> +Displays in nicest touches.'<br></blockquote> +<p>"The fruits and flowers carved for the choir of St. Paul's +cathedral in London are done in lime-wood.</p> +<p>"So numerous are the purposes to which the bark, wood, leaves +and blossoms of the lime, or linden, tree can be applied that +centuries ago it was called the tree of a thousand uses. Linden is +the name by which it is always known on the continent of Europe, +and there it is indeed a magnificent tree, forming the most +delightful avenues and branching colonnades. One of the principal +streets in Berlin is called 'Unter den Linden.' In the Middle Ages, +when the Swiss and the Flemings were always struggling for liberty, +it was their custom to plant a lime tree on the field of battle, +and many of these old trees still remain and have been the subject +of ballads and poetical effusions:</p> +<blockquote>"'The stately lime, smooth, gentle, straight and +fair.'"<br></blockquote> +<p>"Is there any story about it, Miss Harson?"</p> +<p>"No," was the reply, "not much of a story; only descriptions of +some very large and very ancient trees. One of these, the old +linden tree of Soleure, in Switzerland, was spoken of by an English +traveler two hundred years ago as 'right noble and wondrous to +behold. A bower composed of its branches is capable of holding +three hundred persons sitting at ease; it has also a fountain set +about with many tables formed solely of the boughs, to which men +ascend by steps; and all is kept so accurately and thick that the +sun never looks into it.'"</p> +<p>"It is just like a tent," said Malcolm, "it must be pleasant to +sit by the fountain. Wouldn't you like it, Miss Harson?"</p> +<p>"I am sure I should," replied his governess; "and I should also +like to see the famous lime tree of Zurich, the boughs of which +will shelter five hundred persons. At Augsburg, in Germany, feasts +and weddings have often been celebrated under the shade of some +venerable limes that branch out to an immense distance. In early +times divine honors were paid to them as emblems of immortality. +And now," said Miss Harson, "the last of these famous trees is a +noble lime tree which grew on the farm belonging to the ancestors +of Linnaeus, the great naturalist, beneath the shade of which he +played in childhood, and from which his ancestors derived their +surname. That noble tree still blossoms from year to year, +beautiful in every change of seasons."</p> +<p>"Lime, linden and basswood," said Clara--"three names to +remember for one tree. But didn't you say, Miss Harson, that it's +always called basswood in our country?"</p> +<p>"Often, but not always. The name linden is quite common with us, +and it will be well for you to remember that it is also called +lime, so that when you go to Europe you will know what is meant by +<i>lime</i> and <i>linden</i>."</p> +<p>The children laughed at this idea, for it seemed very funny to +think of a little girl like Clara going to Europe, but, as their +governess told them, little girls did go constantly; besides, this +was the time to learn what would be of use to them when they were +grown.</p> +<p>"The fragrant lime," said Miss Harson, "has a relative in Asia +whose acquaintance I wish you to make, and you know it already in +one of its products, which is common in every household. It is also +very fragrant--or rather, I should say, it has a strong aromatic +odor which is very reviving in cases of faintness or illness, +although it has quite a contrary effect on insects, particularly on +mosquitoes. I should like to have some one tell me what this white, +powerful substance is."</p> +<p>This was quite a conundrum, and for a little while the children +were extremely puzzled over its solution; but presently Clara +asked,</p> +<p>"Do the moths hate it too, Miss Harson? And isn't it +camphor?"</p> +<p>"Camphor doesn't grow on a <i>tree</i>," said Malcolm, in a +superior tone; "it is dug out of the earth."</p> +<p>"I have never read of any camphor-mines," replied his governess, +laughing, "and I think you will find that camphor--which is just +what I meant--is obtained from the trunk of a tree."</p> +<p>"Like India-rubber?" asked Edith.</p> +<p>"No, dear, not like India-rubber, for it grows in even a more +curious way than that, masses of it being found in the trunk of the +camphor tree--not in the form of sap, but in lumps, as we use +it."</p> +<p>"I thought it was like water," said Edith, in a puzzled +tone.</p> +<p>"So it is when dissolved in alcohol, as we generally have it; +but it is also used in lumps to drive away moths and for various +other purposes. But I will tell you all about the tree, which grows +in the islands of Sumatra and Borneo and bears the botanical name +<i>Dryobalanops camphora</i>. The camphor is also called +<i>barus</i> camphor, to distinguish it from the <i>laurus</i>, of +which I will tell you afterward, and it is of a better quality and +more easily obtained. The tree grows in the forests of these East +Indian islands and is remarkable for its majestic size, dense +foliage and magnolia-like flowers. The trunk rises as high as +ninety feet without a single branch, and within it are cavities, +sometimes a foot and a half long, which cannot be perceived until +the bark is split open. These cavities contain the camphor in clear +crystalline masses, and with it an oil known as camphor oil, that +is thought by some to be camphor in an immature form. But the oil, +even when crystallized by artificial means, does not produce such +good camphor as that already solidified in the tree."</p> +<p>"To think," exclaimed Clara, "of camphor growing in that way! +But how do they get it out, Miss Harson? Do they cut great holes in +the trunk of the tree?"</p> +<p>"No, dear; I have just read to you that the camphor cannot be +seen until the bark is split open, and the grand trees have to be +cut down. But to do this is no easy matter. The hard, close-grained +timber requires days of hewing and sawing to get it severed. The +masses of roots are as unyielding as iron, and run twisting through +the soil to the distance of sixty yards. Even at their farthest +extremity they are as thick as a man's thigh."</p> +<p>"I shouldn't think the camphor was worth all that trouble," said +Malcolm; "it don't seem to amount to much, any wary."</p> +<p>"It is more valuable than you suppose," replied Miss Harson; +"for, besides preserving furs and woolen fabrics from the devouring +moth, it protects the contents of cabinets and museums from the +attacks of the minute creatures that prey upon the dried specimens +of the naturalist. Not any of the insect tribe can endure the +powerful scent of the camphor, and they either retreat before it or +are killed by it. But its principal value is in medicine. It is +used both internally and externally. It acts as a nervous +stimulant, and is a favorite domestic remedy.--So you see, Malcolm, +that camphor really amounts to a great deal, and we could not very +well do without it."</p> +<p>"How can people tell when there is any camphor inside the tree?" +asked Clara.</p> +<p>"They cannot tell," was the reply, "until the trunk is split +open, although a tribe of men in Sumatra say that they know +before-hand, by a kind of magic, which is the right tree to cut +down. But the beautiful, stately tree is often wasted in vain, and +after all their hard work the camphor-seekers find the cavities of +the split-up trunk filled with a thick black substance like pitch +instead of the pure white camphor."</p> +<p>"Poor things!" said Edith, pityingly; "that's too bad."</p> +<p>"Camphor is found in many trees and shrubs," continued her +governess, "but in all others except the camphor tree of Sumatra +and Borneo it has to be distilled from the wood and roots. The +camphor-laurel, which is about the size of an English oak, is the +most important of these trees. It grows abundantly in the Chinese +island of Formosa, and 'camphor mandarin' is the title of a rich +Chinaman who pays the government for the privilege of extracting +all the camphor, which he sends to other countries at a large +profit. Every part of this tree is full of camphor, and the tree +gives out, when bruised, a strong perfume.</p> +<p>"The European bay tree, which is more like an immense shrub, is +also a member of this singular tribe, and its leaves have the +strong family flavor. They were used in medicine, as well as the +berries, before the camphor-laurel became known in Europe; in the +time of Queen Elizabeth the floors of the better sort of houses +were strewed with bay-leaves instead of being carpeted as now. The +bay was an emblem of victory in old Roman times, and victorious +generals were crowned with it. A wreath of this laurel, with the +berries on, was placed on the head of a favorite poet in the Middle +Ages, and in this way came the title +'poet-laureate'--<i>laureatus</i>,' crowned with laurel.'</p> +<p>"Do you remember," continued Miss Harson, "the tall, straight +tree that I showed you yesterday when we were out in the woods--the +one with a fluted trunk? What was its name?"</p> +<p>"I know!" said Malcolm, quite excited. "Think of the seashore! +Beach! That's what I told myself to remember."</p> +<p class="right"><img src="Images/273.png" width="40%" alt=""><br> +<b>AMERICAN BEECH.</b></p> +<p>"A very good idea," replied his governess, laughing; "only you +must not spell it with an <i>a</i>, like the seashore, for it is +<i>b-e-e-c-h.</i>--The fluted, or ribbed, shaft of this +grand-looking tree is often sixty or seventy feet high, and, +although it is found in its greatest perfection in England, it is a +common tree in most of the woods in this country. For depth of +shade no tree is equal to the beech, and its long beautiful leaves, +with their close ridges and serrated edges, are very much like +those of the chestnut. The leaves are of a light, fresh green and +very neat and perfect, because they are so seldom attacked by +insects; they remain longer on the branches than those of any +deciduous tree, and give a cheerful air to the wood in winter. In +the autumn they change to a light yellow-brown, which makes a +pretty contrast to the reds and greens and purples of other trees. +The branches start out almost straight from the tree, but they very +soon curve and turn regularly upward. Every small twig turns in the +same direction, making the long leaf-buds at the end look like so +many little spears. I showed you these 'stuck-up' buds when we were +looking at the tree, and you noticed how different they were from +the other trees."</p> +<p>Yes, the children remembered it; and it always seemed to them +particularly nice to have part of the talk out of doors and the +rest in the house.</p> +<p>"Doesn't the beech tree have nuts?" asked Malcolm. "John says it +does."</p> +<p>"Yes," replied Miss Harson; "it has tiny three-cornered nuts +which seem particularly small for so large a tree. But these nuts +are eagerly devoured by pigeons, partridges and squirrels. Bears +are said to be very fond of them, and swine fatten very rapidly +upon them. Most varieties are so small as not to repay the trouble +of gathering, drying and opening them. Fortunately, this is not the +case with all, as it is a delicious nut. In France the beech-nut is +much used for making oil, which is highly valued for burning in +lamps and for cooking. In parts of the same country the nuts, +roasted, serve as a substitute for coffee."</p> +<p>"I'd like to find some when they're ripe," said Clara, "if they +<i>are</i> little."</p> +<p>"We will have a search for them, then," was the reply, "when the +time comes.--The flowers which produce these little nuts are very +showy and grow in roundish tassels, or heads, which hang by +thread-like, silky stalks, one or two inches long, from the midst +of the young leaves of a newly-opened bud. A traveler says of these +leaves, 'We used always to think that the most luxurious and +refreshing bed was that which prevails universally in Italy, and +which consists entirely of a pile of mattresses filled with the +luxuriant spathe of the Indian corn; which beds have the advantage +of being soft as well as elastic, and we have always found the +sleep enjoyed on them to be particularly sound and restorative. But +the beds made of beech-leaves are really no whit behind them in +these qualities, whilst the fragrant smell of green tea, which the +leaves retain, is most gratifying. The objection to them is the +slight crackling noise which the leaves occasion as the individual +turns in bed, but this is no inconvenience at all; or if so in any +degree, it is an inconvenience which is overbalanced by the +advantages of this most luxurious couch."</p> +<p>"But how funny," said Malcolm, "to sleep on leaves! That's what +the Babes in the Wood did."</p> +<p>"No," replied Clara, very earnestly, "they didn't sleep +<i>on</i> leaves, you know; but when they had laid down and gone to +sleep, the robins came and covered them with leaves."</p> +<p>"Yes," chimed in little Edith; "I like that way best, because +they'd be so cold in the woods."</p> +<p>"And that really was the case," said Miss Harson, after +listening with a smile to this discussion, "although there were +probably leaves on the ground for the children to lie upon. A bed +of leaves is not a bad thing where there are no mattresses, and +such a bed is often used as a matter of course. You will remember +my reading to you about the beds which the Finland mothers make for +their children of the leaves of the canoe-birch. 'Leafy beds' are +no strange thing--not mere poetry."</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV." id="CHAPTER_XV."></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2> +<h3><i>THE TENT AND THE LOCUSTS</i>.</h3> +<br> +<p>There came a bright balmy day in May when the children found a +delightful surprise awaiting them. The tent in the woods, which had +been proposed on the day when birch-twigs were found to be eatable, +was almost forgotten--or if thought of, it was as a thing that +could not possibly be--when, on the day in question, Miss Harson +took her charges out as usual, and led them to a very pretty +cleared space with a fringe of rocks and trees all around it. But +on this spot, which hitherto had been quite bare, there now stood +some sort of a little house different from other houses and quite +pretty.</p> +<p>"It's a tent!" exclaimed Malcolm. "Who put it there, I should +like to know, on <i>our</i> land?"</p> +<p>"Are there gypsies here, Miss Harson?" whispered Clara, rather +fearfully.</p> +<p>But the young lady walked deliberately up to the entrance of the +tent and invited her little flock to come inside.</p> +<p>"I know the gentleman who had it put here," she said, "and he is +quite willing that we should use it; but he will not give any one +else this liberty."</p> +<p>"I think I know him too," said Malcolm as he walked in after +Miss Harson.</p> +<p>"And I!"--"And I!" exclaimed the little girls. "It is our own +papa. How very kind of him!"</p> +<p>"Yes," replied their governess; "he said, when I spoke of a +tent, that it would be a good thing for the wood-ramblers to have a +place of shelter when they were over-taken by a sudden shower, and +also a place in which to rest comfortably when they were tired; and +this pretty tent, you see, is all ready for us at any time."</p> +<p>It was a very nice tent indeed, having a long cushioned seat +inside, two little rocking-chairs that were at once appropriated, a +small table, and a bracket with books on it. On the table there was +a round basket of oranges, which made every one thirsty at +once.</p> +<p>"I do believe," said Malcolm, suddenly, "that it's made of +India-rubber."</p> +<p>"Not the orange, I hope?" replied Miss Harson, while the little +sisters looked up in surprise.</p> +<p>An India-rubber orange was a thing to be laughed at, though not +to be eaten, and the children were in such a state of glee over +this pleasant surprise that they were ready to laugh almost at +nothing.</p> +<p>Presently their governess said,</p> +<p>"Malcolm means the tent, of course; and he is quite right, for +the covering is India-rubber cloth."</p> +<p>"But why isn't it dark and ugly, like the waterproofs?" was the +next question.</p> +<p>"Simply because it need not be so, and it is prettier to have it +white or of this pale gray. But these shades are too conspicuous +for overshoes or waterproof cloaks, so the latter are made as dark +as possible. The caoutchoue, you know, is naturally white or very +light colored."</p> +<p>"How do they make the cloth?" asked Malcolm.</p> +<p>"It is first made as cloth," was the reply; "then a thin coating +of India-rubber is spread over two layers of it. The cloth is then +put together and pressed between rollers, so that the two pieces +firmly adhere, with the caoutchoue between them. No rain can +penetrate such a screen as this,"</p> +<p>It was delightful to know that they would be safe and dry in +case of a shower, and the children thought it must be just the +prettiest tent that ever was made. The cushioned seat was covered +with scarlet, and so were the little chairs, which Clara and Edith +knew were meant for them; the edges of the cloth were scalloped +with the same bright color, and there was even a rug to match +spread in front of the "divan," as Miss Harson laughingly said the +cushioned seat must be called.</p> +<p>"Haven't we 'most come to the end of the trees?" asked Clara. "I +never thought that there were so many different kinds,"</p> +<p>"Look around and see if you feel acquainted with them all," +replied her governess.</p> +<p>They had left the tent after quite a long "sitting," and were +now on their way to the house.</p> +<p>Clara's first glance, on doing as she had been directed, fell on +three trees by the side of a fence, that were different from any +they had yet studied.</p> +<p>"What do you notice about them?" continued Miss Harson; "for I +wish you to use your own eyes and thoughts as much as +possible."</p> +<p>"Why, the trunk is dark gray, and it isn't smooth, but it looks +as if some one had dug out long, thin pieces of bark."</p> +<p>"We will call it 'deeply furrowed,'" said her governess, "as +that is a better expression; but your description is very good +indeed."</p> +<p>"The leaves are ever so pretty," said Malcolm--"so many of 'em +on one stem!-- and the green looks as if it was just made."</p> +<p>"You mean by that, I suppose," replied Miss Harson, "that it is +a very fresh tint; and we are seeing it in its first beauty now. +This is the locust tree, and May is its time for leafing out in the +tenderest of greens. The pinnate--from <i>pinna</i>, Latin for +feather' --leaves are composed of from nine to twenty-five +leaflets, which are egg-shaped, with a short point, very smooth, +light green above and still lighter beneath. These leaves are much +liked by cattle, and they are said to be very nutritious to +them."</p> +<p class="ctr"><img src="Images/283.png" width="40%" alt=""><br> +<b>FOLIAGE OF HONEY-LOCUST.</b></p> +<p>"How can you remember everything so, Miss Harson?" asked +Malcolm, lost in wonder, as the young lady, looking up at the +trees, said these things as if they had been written there. John +had declared that she talked like a book, and this seemed more like +it than ever.</p> +<p>"Oh no," was the laughing reply; "I do not remember +<i>everything</i>, Malcolm, and perhaps it is just as well that I +do not. But I will not tax my memory any more about the locust just +now; we can take it up again this evening."</p> +<p>"I should like to know," exclaimed Clara, after some thought, +"why a tree is called <i>locust</i>, when a locust is such a +disagreeable insect?"</p> +<p>"I am afraid that I cannot tell you," replied Miss Harson, +"unless the color of the leaves is similar to that of the +'disagreeable insect,' which is really very handsome, or unless the +insects are very partial to the tree; I have seen no explanation of +it. But the tree itself is very much admired, with its profusion of +pinnate leaves and racemes of flowers that fill the air with the +most agreeable odors."</p> +<p>"What color are the flowers, Miss Harson?" asked Malcolm.</p> +<p>"This description will tell you," was the reply. "The tree is +not pretty in winter, and has no promise of beauty until 'May hangs +on these withered boughs a green drapery that hides all their +deformity; she infuses into their foliage a perfection of verdure +that no other tree can rival, and a beauty in the forms of its +leaves that renders it one of the chief ornaments of the groves and +waysides. June weaves into this green foliage pendent clusters of +flowers of mingled brown and white, filling the air with fragrance +and enticing the bee with odors as sweet as from groves of citron +and myrtle.'"</p> +<p>"That sounds pretty," said Clara, who liked imposing sentences, +"but brown and white are not very handsome colors for flowers."</p> +<p>"The white is certainly prettier without the mixture of brown," +replied her governess, "but we have to take our flowers ready-made, +and can hardly expect them to be beautiful and fragrant too. The +separate blossoms are shaped like those of the pea and bean; they +hang in long clusters somewhat resembling bunches of grapes. The +leaves--or, rather, leaflets--are very sensitive and have a habit +of folding over one another in wet and dull weather, and also in +the night--a habit that is peculiar to all the members of the +acacia family, to which the locust belongs."</p> +<p>"I should think it ought to belong to the pea family," said +Malcolm, "if the flowers are shaped like pea-blossoms."</p> +<p>"So it does," replied Miss Harson--"or, rather, to the bean +family, of which the pea is a member, on account of its blossoms; +but the acacia, like many others, is a brother, or sister, on +account of its leaves as well as its blossoms. The peculiar +distinction of this family is that its flowers are butterfly-shaped +or its fruit in pods, and it often possesses both these characters. +By one or the other all the plants of the family are known, and the +butterfly-shaped flowers are of a character not to be mistaken, as +they are found in no other family. It includes herbs, shrubs and +trees--an immense and perfectly natural family, distributed +throughout almost every part of the globe. There are at present in +all not less than thirty-seven hundred species. So you see that the +locust tree is certainly rich in relations."</p> +<p>The children thought that it must have some family claim on +almost every plant in the world.</p> +<p class="ctr"><img src="Images/287.png" width="40%" alt=""><br> +<b>CAROB TREE AND FRUIT.</b></p> +<p>"Do you remember that in the story of the Prodigal Son, told by +our Lord, it is said that the bad son became so poor that he wanted +to eat the 'husks' that the swine ate? Those 'husks' were the fruit +of a Syrian member of this family. The tree is the carob tree, of +which you have here a picture--a fine large tree bearing a sweet +pod containing the seeds. I have seen these pods for sale in this +country, and foolishly called St. John's bread, as if the 'locusts' +eaten by John the Baptist were pods of a locust tree, and not +insect locusts."</p> +<p>"Yes," said Malcolm, "I have tasted those pods, and they are +real sweet; but I wouldn't care to make a breakfast from them."</p> +<p>"I like calling the flowers 'butterfly-shaped,'" said Clara, +"because that is just what the pea and bean-blossoms look like; +though Kitty calls 'em 'little ladies in hoods.' Isn't that funny, +Miss Harson?"</p> +<p>"It is very quaint, I think, but I do not dislike it: it is like +seeing faces in pansies; and some people are full of these odd +imaginations. There is a kind of locust, called the clammy-barked, +found in the Southern parts of the United States, which is a +smaller tree than the common locust and has large pale-pink +flowers, while the rose acacia is a very beautiful flowering shrub. +The sweet, or honey, locust is another variety, which is also +called the three-thorned acacia, because the thorns consist of one +long spine with two shorter ones projecting out of it, like little +branches, near its base. This is said to display much of the +elegance of the tropical acacia in the minute division and symmetry +of its compound leaves. These are of a light and brilliant green +and lie flat upon the branches, giving them a fan-like appearance +such as we observe in the hemlock."</p> +<p>"But why is it called honey-locust?" asked Malcolm. "Do the bees +make honey in the trunk?"</p> +<p>"No," replied his governess; "the name comes from the sweetness +of the pulp around the seeds, which ripen in large flat pods, and +of which boys and girls are fond. But the flowers of this species +are only small greenish aments. Locust-wood is very durable, and, +as it will bear exposure to all kinds of weather, it is much used +in shipbuilding and as posts for gates. It is thought that the +shittah and shittim wood of the Bible, of which Moses made the +greater part of the tables, altars and planks of the tabernacle, +was the same as the black acacia found in the deserts of Arabia and +about Mount Sinai and the mountains which border on the Red Sea, +and is so hard and solid as to be almost incorruptible.</p> +<p>"And now," added Miss Harson, "reading of the numerous relations +of the locust, considering that 'the acacia, not less valued for +its airy foliage and elegant blossoms than for its hard and durable +wood; the braziletto, logwood and rosewoods of commerce; the +laburnum; the furze and the broom, both the pride of the otherwise +dreary heaths of Europe; the bean, the pea, the vetch, the clover, +the trefoil, the lucerne--all staple articles of culture by the +farmer--are so many species of Leguminosae, and that the gums +Arabic and Senegal, kino and various precious medicinal drugs, not +to mention indigo, the most useful of all dyes, are products of +other species,--it will be perceived that it would be difficult to +point out an order with greater claims upon the attention.'"</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI." id="CHAPTER_XVI."></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> +<h3><i>THE WALNUT FAMILY AND THE AILANTHUS</i>.</h3> +<br> +<p>"The walnut family," said Miss Harson, "with the ugly name +<i>Juglandaceae</i>, are distinguished by pinnate, or compound, +leaves, which have an aromatic odor when crushed, and by blossoms +in catkins. Of these trees, the black walnut is one of the +handsomest and most highly prized."</p> +<p>"Are there any of them here?" asked Malcolm.</p> +<p class="ctr"><img src="Images/292.png" width="40%" alt=""><br> +<b>THE WALNUT TREE.</b></p> +<p>"No," was the reply; "I do not think you have ever seen one. +They are more common in the western part of the Middle States and +in the Western States; in Ohio particularly they grow to a very +large size. Solitary trees are sometimes seen in this part of the +country, and the branches, extending themselves horizontally to a +great distance, spread out into a spacious head, which gives them a +very majestic appearance. The trunk is rough and furrowed, and the +leaves have from six to ten pairs of leaflets and an odd one. They +are smooth, strongly serrated and rather pointed; the color is a +light, bright green. The catkins are green, from four to seven +inches long, and hang from the axils of the last year's leaves. The +leaves are much longer than those of the locust, and the leaf-stalk +is downy. The nut, which is very oily, is shaped like an English +walnut, but resembles it in no other way, as the shell is very +thick and dark-colored. When thoroughly dried, the black walnut is +very much liked--as I think some witnesses here could testify--and +is used in making candy."</p> +<p>"And just the nicest kind of candy, too," said the children, +with one voice.</p> +<p>Their governess smiled, for this was very much her own +opinion.</p> +<p>"You do not know," she continued, "how strangely these nuts +grow. They have an outer husk, or rind, which when green is hard +and has a very pleasant smell; the tree then seems to be covered +with green balls. As the nuts ripen this outer part becomes so dark +that it is almost black and grows soft and spongy. A rich brown dye +is made from it. Black-walnut wood has long been famous for its +beauty, and it grows deeper and darker with age. It is handsomely +shaded and takes a fine polish, and this, with its durability, +makes it very valuable for furniture. Posts made of it will last a +long time, and it can be put to almost any use for which hard-wood +is available.</p> +<p>"The walnut tree has a great variety of good qualities in +addition to its fine appearance and generous shade. From the kernel +a valuable oil may be obtained for use in cookery and in lamps. +Bread has also been made from the kernels. The spongy husk of the +nuts is used as dyestuff. It thus unites almost all the qualities +desirable in a tree--beauty, gracefulness and richness of foliage +in every period of its growth; bark and husks which may be employed +in an important art; fruit valuable as food; wood unsurpassed in +durability and in elegance."</p> +<p>"I like English walnuts," said Clara, "they have such thin, +pretty shells; and papa, you know, can open them in just two halves +with a knife."</p> +<p>"Once," said Miss Harson, "I had a little bag sent to me made of +two very large walnut shells with blue silk between, and in this +bag there was a pair of kid gloves rolled up very tight."</p> +<p>"Oh!" exclaimed the children. It sounded like a fairy-tale, but +they knew that it was true, because Miss Harson said that it had +really happened. They were very much surprised, though, that a bag +could be made of nutshells, and that a pair of gloves could be +crowded into so small a compass.</p> +<p>"Did it come from England?" asked Malcolm.</p> +<p>"No," replied his governess; "it was sent to me from the island +of Madeira, where these nuts grow so abundantly that they have +often been called Madeira-nuts. It also grows abundantly in Europe, +and the nuts are used for dessert, pickling, and many other +purposes, while the poorer classes often depend largely on them for +food."</p> +<p>"Do they eat 'em instead of bread?" asked Edith. "I'd like that; +they're ever so much nicer!"</p> +<p>"Perhaps you would not think so if you had hardly anything else +to eat; you would get tired of them then. In many places on the +continent of Europe the roads are lined with walnut trees for miles +together, and in the proper season the people may feast upon the +fruit as much as they like. A person, it is said, once traveled +from Florence to Geneva and ate nothing by the way but walnuts; but +I must say that I should not like to do it. One species bears a nut +as large as an egg; but if kept any time, it will shrink to half +its natural size. The shell of this great walnut, we are told, is +sometimes used for making little ornamental boxes to hold gloves +and small fancy-articles; so you see that mine was not the only +glove-bag made of two walnut-shells."</p> +<p>"How pretty they must be!" said Clara. "I should like to see +one."</p> +<p>"I think that I can make one when I get a large nut, and I shall +be glad to show you how it is done."</p> +<p>This was a delightful prospect, and the children volunteered to +save for that especial purpose all the large nuts they could +find.</p> +<p>"The English walnut tree," continued Miss Harson, "is a native +of Persia or the North of China, and the long pinnated leaves seem +to mark its Oriental origin; but it has taken very kindly to its +European home. In some parts of Germany the walnut trees were +considered to be such a valuable possession that no young man was +allowed to marry until he owned a certain number; and if one tree +was cut down, another was always planted."</p> +<p>"Don't they grow in this country?" asked Malcolm.</p> +<p>"Not very often in our more northern States," was the reply, +"for the climate here is too cold for them; but at a house where I +visited there was an English walnut tree in the garden, and it +seemed to do very well. The nuts were always gathered while they +were green, and made into pickles."</p> +<p>This was considered quite dreadful, for ripe nuts were certainly +a great deal better than pickles.</p> +<p>"But there was a great deal of uncertainty about having the ripe +nuts, for there were bad boys all around who would not have +hesitated to rob the tree. Besides, pickled walnuts are considered +a great delicacy by those who eat such things. There are some other +ways, too, of using the nuts, which you would not like any better. +One of these is to make them into oil, as the people do in the +South of Europe; this oil is used to burn in their lamps and as an +article of food. 'In Piedmont, among the light-hearted peasantry, +cracking the walnuts and taking them from the shell is a holiday +proceeding. The peasants, with their wives and children, assemble +in the evening, after their day's work is over, in the kitchen of +some château where the walnuts have been gathered, and where +their services are required. They sit round a table, and at each +end is a man with a small mallet, who cracks the walnuts and passes +them on; the rest of the party take them out of their shells. At +supper-time the table is cleared, and a repast of dried fruit, +vegetables and wine is set out. The remainder of the evening is +spent in singing and dancing. The crushing and pressing of the +nuts, for oil, take place when the whole harvest is in.'"</p> +<p>"But don't walnuts come from California? Our grocer said he had +California nuts," remarked Malcolm.</p> +<p>"Yes; that wonderful country is beginning to supply us with +English walnuts."</p> +<p>"Are you going to tell us a story, Miss Harson?" asked Edith, +hopefully.</p> +<p>"I have no story, dear," was the reply, "but there is something +here which you may like about birds stealing the nuts."</p> +<p>Of course they would like this; for if there was to be no story, +birds and stealing promised to furnish a good substitute.</p> +<p>"'Birds are as fond of walnuts as we are,'" read Miss Harson, +"'and rob the trees without any mercy. Not only the little +titmouse, but the grave and solemn rook'--a kind of crow, you +remember--'is not above paying a visit to the walnut tree and +stealing all he can find. There is a walnut tree growing in a +garden the owner of which may be said to have planted it for the +benefit of the rooks. Not that he had any such purpose, but, as it +happens, he cannot help himself. The rooks begin a series of +robberies as soon as the fruit is ripe, and carry them on with an +adroitness that would be amusing but for the result. As many as +fifty rooks come, one after the other, and each will carry off a +walnut. The old ones are the most at home in the process, and the +most daring. The bird approaches the tree and floats for a second +in the air, as if occupied in finding out which of the walnuts will +be the easiest to obtain; then, with a bold stroke, he darts at the +one selected, and rarely misses his aim.</p> +<p>"'The young rooks are much more timid and not so successful. +They settle on the branch and knock down a great many walnuts in +their clumsy attempts to secure one. Even when the walnut has been +obtained, the young rook is not sure of his prize: one of his older +and stronger brethren is very likely to attack him and knock the +walnut out of his bill. Then, by a dextrous swoop, the robber +catches it up before it reaches the ground, and carries it off in +triumph. The feasting ground of the rooks is the next field, and +here they come to eat their walnuts. They crack the shell with +their beaks and devour the kernel with great relish. Then, when one +walnut is finished, they fly back to the tree for another. There is +no chance for the owner of the garden, who does not think it worth +while even to shake his tree: he knows there will not be a single +walnut left.'"</p> +<p>"I should think not, with those greedy creatures," exclaimed +Malcolm. "Why doesn't the man shoot 'em?"</p> +<p>"He probably thinks it would be of little use, when there are +such numbers of the birds; besides, he may prefer losing his +walnuts to disturbing them, for rooks are treated with great +consideration in England, and there is no such wholesale +destruction of birds as is seen here."</p> +<p>The rooks were certainly very comical, and the children thought +this little account of their antics over the walnut tree the next +best thing to a story.</p> +<p class="left"><img src="Images/302.png" width="50%" alt=""><br> +<b>THE BUTTERNUT TREE.</b></p> +<p>"Another fine shade-tree," continued Miss Harson, "and one very +much like the black walnut, is the butternut, or oil-nut, tree. It +is low and broad-headed, spreading into several large branches; the +leaves are pinnate, like those of the walnut, but have not so many +leaflets. The nut has an entirely different taste, and is even more +oily. To many persons it is not at all agreeable. It is a great +favorite, though, with country-boys, and in October, when the +kernel is ripe, they may be seen with deeply-stained hands and +faces, as the thin, leathery husks when handled leave plentiful +traces. The butternut is not round like the walnut, but oblong, and +pointed at the end; it is about two inches in length and marked by +deep furrows and sharp irregular ridges. It is very pretty when +sawn across in slices, and looks like scroll-saw work.--We shall +have to get some, Malcolm, for you to practice on with your +saw."</p> +<p>As his scroll-saw was just then the delight of Malcolm's heart, +he felt particularly interested in butternuts, and immediately +mapped out in his mind something very beautiful to be wrought with +them for his governess.</p> +<p>"The bark and the nutshells have long been used to give a brown +color to wool, and the Shakers dye a rich purple with it. The bark +of the trunk will give a black and that of the root a fawn-colored +dye, while an inferior sugar has been made from the sap. The young +half-grown nuts are much used for pickles. Butternut-wood is +exceedingly handsome, of a pale, reddish tint, and durable when +exposed to heat and moisture. It makes beautiful fronts for drawers +and excellent light, tough and durable wooden bowls. It is also +used for the panels of carriages, as well as for posts and rails. +It is a more common tree than the walnut in our part of the +country; there is a large one in front of a house a few miles from +here which I will show you on our next drive."</p> +<p>"I am glad of it," said Clara, "for I can remember about the +trees so much better when I have seen them. I wish we could see +every one of the trees you have told us of, Miss Harson."</p> +<p>"Perhaps you will some day," replied her governess, "and you +will then find that a little knowledge of them before-hand is a +great help."</p> +<p>"Are there any more of the walnut family?" asked Malcolm.</p> +<p>"Yes, the hickory belongs to it; and this is a tree which is +peculiar to America. The European walnut is more like it than any +other. It is always a stately and elegant tree and very valuable +for its timber. There are several varieties, which are much alike, +the principal difference being in the nuts. You have all seen most +of the trees and gathered the nuts. They are:</p> +<p>"1. The shellbark, with five large leaflets, a large nut, of +which the husk is deeply grooved at the seams, and a rough, scaly +trunk.</p> +<p>"2. The mocker-nut, with seven or nine leaflets, a hard, +thick-shelled nut, and leaflets and twigs very downy when young, +and strongly odorous.</p> +<p>"3. The pignut, with three, five or seven narrow leaflets, +small, thin-shelled fruit and a pretty hard nut.</p> +<p>"4. The bitternut, with seven, nine or eleven small, narrow, +serrated leaves, small fruit with long, prominent seams, bitter and +thin-shelled nuts and very yellow buds.</p> +<p>"The shellbark is often called 'shagbark,' and it is the finest +of the hickories and one that is seldom mistaken for any of the +others. It may readily be distinguished by the shaggy bark of its +trunk, the excellence of its globular fruit, its leaves, which are +large and have five leaflets, and by its ovate, half-covered buds. +It is a tall, slender tree with irregular branches, and the foliage +seems to lie in masses of dense, dark green. But in October, when +the nuts ripen, the leaves turn to orange-brown, and finally to the +color of a russet apple; so that they do not add greatly to the +beauty of the forest."</p> +<p>"But the nuts are good," said Malcolm. "Didn't we have fine +times picking 'em up?"</p> +<p>"We did indeed," replied Miss Harson, "and I hope we shall +again."</p> +<p>"How long will it be before they are ripe?" asked the little +girls.</p> +<p>"Just about five months, I think."</p> +<p>"Oh dear!" was the reply; "that's <i>so</i> long to wait!"</p> +<p>"But you needn't wait," said their governess; "you can enjoy +each season as it comes, and all the good things that our heavenly +Father sends with it. Remember that, as you cannot expect ripe nuts +in May or June, neither can you look for strawberries and roses in +October. Tents are of very little use then, too."</p> +<p>"Oh!" exclaimed the children, to whom the tent was still a +delightful novelty; and they decided not to wish just yet for +nutting-time to come.</p> +<p>"The nut, as you have so often seen, is covered with a brown +husk that is very thick and marked with four furrows, by which it +separates into as many distinct pieces, one being larger than the +rest. The nuts differ very much in size and shape, and also in +hardness, but the best kinds have thin shells and soft kernels; +they are also rounder and fuller than the poorer sorts. There is a +peculiar sweetness in the taste of this nut when in its best +condition, and it is quite equal to the European walnut. The wood +of this tree is particularly valuable for fuel, and in old times, +when wood-fires were the only kind known, a good hickory back-log +was sure to be found on every hearth. It is the heaviest of our +native woods, and the wise men say that it yields, pound for pound +or cord for cord, more heat than any other, in any shape in which +it may be consumed."</p> +<p>"But what a pity," said Clara, "to burn up trees that bear nuts! +Why can't they take those that don't?"</p> +<p>"They are not so desirable for fuel," was the reply; "and when +people own trees which they are willing to turn into money, they +generally consider in what way they can get the most for them. Nuts +which grow in the woods and fields are a very uncertain crop, of +which every one seems to gather more than the owner, and it is +therefore more profitable for him to cut his trees down and sell +them for their wood, which the people in the cities and towns are +so glad to get."</p> +<p>"What's the use," asked Malcolm, "of calling a tree such a name +as <i>mocker-nut</i>? What does it mean?"</p> +<p>"That is just what I have not been able to find out," replied +Miss Harson, "but it has an Indian sound, and it seems that the +Indians used to make a black dye from the bark; so we will give +them the credit for it. The name is not often used, for the tree is +generally known as the white walnut. The nut is the largest of the +hickories, being often from four to six inches around, and it is +shaped somewhat like a pear. One variety, however, is known as the +square nut. The shell is very thick and hard, but the kernel is +sweet when once it is gotten out. This tree is as stately and +finely-shaped as the shagbark. It varies from the other hickories +in the number of its leaflets, which are seven or nine, the down on +its leaves and recent shoots, the hardness of the husk and +thickness of the nut, the roundness of its large covered buds, and +the strong resinous odor in leaves, buds and husks. In its general +appearance it resembles the shellbark, as well as in the fullness +of its foliage and the size of its leaves. 'White-heart hickory' is +a name often given to this species, because the wood is supposed, +when young, to be whiter than that of any of the others,"</p> +<p>"<i>Pignut</i> is another beautiful name," said Malcolm, who was +disposed to be critical. "Do pigs ever eat the nuts, Miss +Harson?"</p> +<p>"I dare say that they do when they have the chance," was the +reply, "as they delight in nuts; but that is said not to be the +proper name for the species. Some of the nuts are shaped like a +fresh fig, and 'fig-nut' seems to be the name originally intended. +But there is a great variety in the shape of the nuts, as some are +nearly round and others very irregular. They are alike, however, in +having very hard, tough shells, and the kernel is not pleasant +enough to repay the trouble of getting at it. These nuts are very +apt to grow in pairs, and several bushels of them can be gathered +from one tree."</p> +<p>"Aren't they good to eat?" asked Clara.</p> +<p>"Not at all good," replied her governess, "except to those who +are not particular about what they eat; and this may be the reason +for calling them 'pignuts,'"</p> +<p>"<i>Bitternut</i> doesn't sound much better," said Malcolm, +again. "I wonder what that species has to say for itself?"</p> +<p>"Not very much, I am afraid, for it is sometimes called the +bitter pignut, and even boys will not eat it, while squirrels +refuse to feed on it when any other nut can be found. The shell of +this nut is so thin that it can be broken in the fingers, but, as +no one cares to break it, it is safer than many a thicker shell. It +is intensely bitter, and well deserves its name. The tree, however, +is handsome and the most graceful of all the hickories; the small, +slender leaves give it the look of an ash, and the trunk is +smoother than that of most large trees. In summer the finely-cut +foliage is of a bright green, and in autumn it changes to a rich +orange, which lasts after the other species have become russet and +brown."</p> +<p>"Is there anything more about hickory trees?" said Clara.</p> +<p>"Only to speak of the great value of the wood," replied Miss +Harson. "Its uses are almost endless. Great numbers of +walking-sticks are made of it, as for this purpose no other native +wood equals it in beauty and strength. It is next in value to white +oak for making hoops; it makes the best screws, the smoothest and +most durable handles for chisels, augurs, gimlets, axes, and many +other common tools. As fuel, hickory is preferred to every other +wood, burning freely, making a pleasant, brilliant fire and +throwing out great heat. Charcoal made from it is heavier than that +made from any other wood, but it is not considered more valuable +than that of birch or alder. The ashes of hickories abound in +alkali, and are considered better for the purpose of making soap +than any other of the native woods, being next to those of the +apple tree."</p> +<p>"There, Clara!" said Malcolm; "you see now why people cut down +hickory trees. The nuts are nowhere, with all these other +things."</p> +<p>"We have finished the walnut family," said Miss Harson, "but +there is a tree that I wish to speak of here because of its long +pinnate leaves, which appear to connect it with the walnuts and +hickories. This is the ailanthus, a large tree which you have often +seen in the village, and which used to be popular as a shade-tree. +It is very clean-looking, for the only insect that will eat its +leaves is the silkworm."</p> +<p>"Oh, Miss Harson!" exclaimed the children. "Are there real +silkworms on 'em? and can we see 'em?"</p> +<p>"Why, do you not remember our talk about silkworms?" replied +their governess. "I am sure I told you that they would not live +here in the open air, but they do in China; and the ailanthus is a +Chinese tree. It was planted in Great Britain over a hundred years +ago for the express purpose of feeding silkworms, because a species +of silkworm which was known to be hardy and capable of forming its +cocoons in the English climate is attached to this tree and feeds +upon its leaves. It was not successful, however, for silkworms, but +as a stately and ornamental tree with tropical-looking foliage it +was much admired. The ailanthus is quite common in this country as +a wayside tree. It possesses a good deal of beauty, from the size +and graceful sweep of its large compound leaves, that retain their +brightness and verdure after midsummer, when our native trees have +become dull. These leaves have nine or ten leaflets as large as a +beech-leaf."</p> +<p>"Isn't that the tree that smells so in summer?" asked Clara, +with a disgusted face.</p> +<p>"Yes; the greenish flowers have a particularly disagreeable +odor, which is very strong and penetrating, and this is probably +the reason why the tree has lost favor in so many places. But this +is only during the season of blossoming, and for several months it +is a beautiful Oriental-looking tree with every leaf perfect, while +nearly all other foliage is more or less ravaged by insects."</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII." id="CHAPTER_XVII."></a>CHAPTER +XVII.</h2> +<h3><i>SOME BEAUTIFUL TREES: THE CHESTNUT AND +HORSE-CHESTNUT.</i></h3> +<p>The nearest trees to the tent, and standing just back of it, +were two magnificent chestnuts, now in full leaf-beauty; and Miss +Harson and her little flock stood admiring their majestic size and +beautiful color.</p> +<p>"These are the handsomest trees yet," said Malcolm.</p> +<p>"I almost think so myself," replied his governess, gazing up +into the rich green depths, "and I wish you particularly to notice +these radiated--or star-like--tufts of foliage. The leaves, you +see, are long, lengthened to a tapering point, serrated--or notched +like a saw--at the edge, and of a bright and nearly pure green. +Though arranged alternately, like those of the beech, on the recent +branches, they are clustered in stars containing from five to seven +leaves on the fruitful branches that grow out from the perfected +wood. Now stand off a little and see how the foliage seems to be +all in tufts, each composed of several long, pointed leaves +drooping from the centre. The aments, too, with their light +silvery-green tint, glisten beautifully on the darker leaves."</p> +<p class="right"><img src="Images/315.png" width="30%" alt=""><br> +<b>LEAF OF THE CHESTNUT.</b></p> +<p>"How high do you think these trees are, Miss Harson?" asked +Clara. "It makes me dizzy to look up to the top."</p> +<p>"They can be scarcely less than ninety feet," was the reply, +"and they are very fine specimens of the family; but the great +chestnut which is the only tree in the field on the left of the +house is broader. It spreads out like an apple tree, because it has +abundance of room, and it is nearly as broad as it is high."</p> +<p>"And aren't its chestnuts just splendid?" exclaimed +Malcolm--"the biggest we find anywhere."</p> +<p>"The bark, you see," continued his governess, "is very +dark-colored, hard and rugged, with long, deep clefts. In smaller +and younger trees it is smooth. I suppose I need not tell you that +the fruit is within a burr covered with sharp, stiff bristles which +are not handled with impunity. It opens by four valves more than +halfway down when ripe, and contains the nuts, from one to three in +number, in a downy cup. These green burrs are very ornamental to +the tree; and when they are ripe, the green takes on a yellow +tinge."</p> +<p class="ctr"><img src="Images/316.png" width="50%" alt=""><br> +<b>THE CHESTNUT TREE.</b></p> +<p>"You didn't say anything about the cunning little tails of the +nuts, Miss Harson," said Edith, in a disappointed tone. "I think +they're the prettiest part, and they stick up in the burr like +little mice-tails."</p> +<p>"Well, dear," was the smiling reply, "<i>you</i> have told us +about them, and I think you have given a very good description. +That is just what they always reminded me of when I was about your +age--little mice-tails."</p> +<p>Edith looked pleased and shy, and she did not mind Malcolm's +laughing at her "little tails," because Miss Harson used to think +the same as she did about them.</p> +<p>"This beautiful tree came from Asia, and it belongs to the +<i>Castanea</i> family, the Greeks having given it that name from a +town in Pontus where they obtained it. It was transplanted into the +North and West, and is now found in most temperate regions. The +wood of the chestnut is very valuable, as it is strong, elastic and +durable, and is often used as a substitute for oak and pine. It +makes very beautiful furniture."</p> +<p>"What kind of chestnuts," asked Clara, "are those great big +ones, like horse-chestnuts, that they have in some of the stores? +Are they good to eat?"</p> +<p>"Yes," replied Miss Harson; "they are particularly good, and +many people in the southern countries of Europe almost live on +them. They are three or four times larger than our nuts, these +Spanish and Italian chestnuts, and they are eaten instead of bread +and potatoes by the peasantry of Spain and Italy. The Spanish +chestnut is one of the most stately of European trees, and +sometimes it is found growing in our own country, but never in the +woods. It is carefully planted and cultivated as an ornamental tree +for private grounds. And now," added the young lady, "as we have +sufficiently examined our American chestnut trees and it is rather +damp and cool to-day for tent-life, suppose we return to the house +and get better acquainted with the foreign chestnuts?"</p> +<p>Edith asked if there was to be a story, but she did not complain +when Miss Harson thought not, only an account of a very large tree; +for the children always felt quite sure that there would be +something which they would like to hear.</p> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<p>The evening was damp, and Clara said that, the schoolroom looked +like a mixture of summer and winter. The fire was both pleasant and +comfortable, but there were lilacs and tulips and hyacinths and +plenty of wild flowers in vases and baskets; the leaves were all +out on the trees by the windows, and the grass was like velvet.</p> +<p>"One of the largest trees in the world, if not the largest," +said Miss Harson, "is a chestnut tree on the side of Mount Etna, in +Sicily, which abounds with chestnut trees of giant proportions and +remarkable beauty. It is called 'The Chestnut Tree of a Hundred +Horses,' and this title is said to have originated in a report that +a queen of Aragon once took shelter under its branches attended by +her principal nobility, all of whom found refuge from a violent +storm under the spreading boughs of the tree. At one time it was +supposed that the tree really consisted of a clump of several +united, but this is not the case; for on digging away the earth the +root was found entire, and at no great depth. Five enormous +branches rise from the trunk, the outside surface of each being +covered with bark, while on the inside is none. The verdure and the +support of the tree thus depend on the outer bark alone. The +intervals between the branches are of various extent, one of them +being sufficient to allow two carriages to drive abreast. In the +middle cavity--or what is called the hollow--of the tree a hut has +been built for the use of persons employed in collecting and +preserving the fruit. They dry the chestnuts in an oven, and then +make them into various conserves for sale. A whole caravan of men +and animals were once accommodated in the enclosure, and also a +flock of sheep folded there. The age of this prodigious tree must +be very great indeed. It belongs to the tribe which bears sweet, or +edible, chestnuts, that form an agreeable article of food. The +foliage is rich, shadowy and beautiful.</p> +<p>"The wood of the chestnut is much used in England for hop-poles, +and old houses in London are floored or wainscoted with it. The +beautiful roof of Westminster Abbey is made of chestnut wood.</p> +<p>"There are magnificent forests of Spanish chestnuts in the +Apennines, and it was the favorite tree of the great painter +Salvator Rosa, who spent much time studying the beautiful play of +light and shade on its foliage. The peasants make a gala-time of +gathering and preparing the nuts. A traveler, having penetrated the +extensive forest which covers the Vallombrosan Apennines for nearly +five miles, came unexpectedly upon those festive scenes, which are +not unfrequent among the chestnut-range. It was a holiday, and a +group of peasants dressed in the gay and picturesque attire of the +neighborhood of the Arno were dancing in an open and level space +covered with smooth turf and surrounded with magnificent chestnuts, +while the inmost recesses of the forest resounded with their mirth +and minstrelsy. Some beat down the chestnuts with sticks and filled +baskets with them, which they emptied from time to time; others, +stretched listlessly upon the turf, picked out the contents of the +bristling capsules in which the kernels were entrenched, for these, +when newly gathered, are sweet and nutritious; others again, and +especially young peasant-girls, pelted their companions with the +fruit."</p> +<p>"Like snowballing," said Malcolm; "only the prickers must have +stung. What grand times they had with their chestnuting!"</p> +<p>"These gay, thoughtless people," replied his governess, "almost +live in the open air and enjoy the present moment. It is not easy +to tell what they would do without these bountiful +chestnut-harvests, for their principal article of food is a thick +porridge called <i>polenta</i>, which they make from the ground +nuts. In France a kind of cake is made from the same material, and +the chestnuts are prepared by drying them in smoke. Another dish is +like mashed potatoes, and large quantities are exported in the +shape of sweetmeats, made by dipping them, after boiling, into +clarified sugar and drying them."</p> +<p>"Miss Harson," asked Clara, "why are horse-chestnuts +<i>called</i> 'horse-chestnuts '? Do horses like 'em?"</p> +<p>"Not usually," was the reply. "The nuts are sometimes ground and +given to horses, but, as sheep, deer and other cattle eat them in +their natural state, it would seem more reasonable to name them +after some of those animals, if that was the reason. It is likely +that because they look like chestnuts, but are much larger, they +were called 'horse-chestnuts,' The tree is not in any respect a +chestnut; and when it was first planted in England, some centuries +ago, it was called 'a rare foreign tree,' and was much admired. It +is supposed to have come from India. The large nuts are like +chestnuts in appearance.--Except, Edith, that they have no 'cunning +little tails.'--In the month of May there is not a more beautiful +tree to be found than the horse-chestnut, with its large, +deeply-cut leaves of a bright-green color and its long, tapering +spikes of variegated flowers, which turn upward from the dense +foliage. The tree at this time has been compared to a huge +chandelier, and the erect blossoms to so many wax lights. The +bitter nuts ripen early in the autumn and fall from the tree, but +long before this the beautiful foliage has turned rusty in our +Northern States, and is no longer ornamental. The overshadowing +branches, which give such a pleasant shade in summer, early in +autumn begin to show the ravages of the insects or the natural +decay of the leaves."</p> +<p>"Then," said Malcolm, "it isn't a nice tree to have, and I'm +glad that there are elms here instead."</p> +<p>"I should like to have some of all the trees," replied Clara, +"because then we could study about them better.--Wouldn't you, Miss +Harson?"</p> +<p>"I think so," said her governess, "if they were not undesirable +to have, as some trees are. If it were always May, I should want +horse-chestnut trees; for I think there is scarcely anything so +pretty as those fresh leaves and blossoms. The branches, too, begin +low down, and that gives the tree a generous spreading look which +is very attractive in the way of shade. In more southern States +they have a longer season of beauty than those in the North."</p> +<p>"Do people ever eat the horse-chestnut?" asked Edith.</p> +<p>"Not often, dear--it is too bitter; but an old writer who lived +in the days when it was first seen in England says that he planted +it in his orchard as a fruit tree, between his mulberry and his +walnut, and that he roasted the chestnuts and ate them. It is like +the bitternut-hickory, which even boys will not eat."</p> +<p>"I should think that somebody or something ought to eat it," +said Clara, thoughtfully; "it seems like such a waste."</p> +<p>Everyone laughed at her wise air, and she was asked if she +intended to set the example. She was not quite ready, though, to do +that; and Miss Harson continued:</p> +<p>"A naturalist once took from the tree a tiny flower-bud and +proceeded to dissect it. After the external covering, which +consisted of seventeen scales, he came upon the down which protects +the flower. On removing this he could perceive four branchlets +surrounding the spike of flowers, and the flowers themselves, +though so minute, were as distinct as possible, and he could not +only count their number, but discern the stamens, and even the +pollen."</p> +<p>"Oh!" exclaimed the children; "how very curious!"</p> +<p>"Yes," replied their governess; "it shows how perfect and +wonderful, from the beginning, are all the works of God."</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII." id="CHAPTER_XVIII."></a>CHAPTER +XVIII.</h2> +<h3><i>AMONG THE PINES</i>.</h3> +<br> +<p>"How good it smells here!" exclaimed Edith, with her small nose +in the air to inhale what she called "a good sniff" in the fragrant +pine-woods.</p> +<p>Miss Harson had taken the children in the carriage to a +pine-grove some miles from Elmridge, and Thomas and the horses +waited by the roadside while the little party walked about or stood +gazing up at the tall slender trees that seemed to tower to the +very skies. Thomas was not fond of waiting, but he thought that he +had the best of it in this case: it was more cheerful to sit in the +carriage and "flick" the flies from Rex and Regina than to go +poking about in the gloomy pine-woods. Yet, notwithstanding the +darkness of its interior and the sombre character of its dense +masses of evergreen foliage as seen from without--whence the name +of "black timber," which has been applied to it--the shade and +shelter it affords and the sentiment of grandeur it inspires cause +it to become allied with the most profound and agreeable +sensations; and it was something of this feeling, though they could +not express it in words, which possessed the young tree-hunters as +they stood in the pine-grove.</p> +<p>"It's nice to breathe here," said Clara.</p> +<p>"It is delicious," replied her governess, enthusiastically, her +eyes kindling as she repeated the lines:</p> +<blockquote>"'His praise, ye winds, that from four quarter +blow,<br> +Breathe soft and loud; and wave your tops, ye pines,<br> +With every plant, in sign of worship. Wave!'"<br></blockquote> +<p>"What a queer brown color--almost like red--the ground is!" said +Malcolm. "And look, Miss Harson! it's made of lots of little sharp +sticks."</p> +<p>"The sharp sticks are pine-needles," was the reply--"the dead +pine-leaves of last year; and when the new growth of leaves have +been put forth, they cover the ground with a smooth brown matting +as comfortable as a gravel-walk, and yet a carpet of Nature's +making. 'The foliage of the pine is so hard and durable that in +summer we always find the last year's crop lying upon the ground in +a state of perfect soundness, and under it that of the preceding +year only partially decayed.'"</p> +<p>"It's kind of slippery in some places," continued Malcolm, +taking a slide as he spoke. "And see those queer-looking roots +sprouting out of the ground!"</p> +<p>"I see the roots," said Miss Harson, "but no sprouts. That is +the white pine, the roots of which are often seen above the ground, +spreading to some distance from the trunk. Generally the roots of +pine trees are small, compared with the size of the trunks, and +spread horizontally instead of descending far into the ground. For +this reason pines are often uprooted by high winds, which break off +the deciduous trees near the ground. But I wish you particularly to +notice the trunks of these trees and tell me if you can see any +difference in them."</p> +<p>Those particular trees had probably never been stared at so hard +before, and the three children exclaimed almost together:</p> +<p>"Some are rough, and some are smooth, and the rough ones have +little bunches of leaves on 'em."</p> +<p>"These are the pitch-pines," replied their governess. "They are +the roughest of all our forest-trees, and they have a rounder head +than any of the other American evergreens. The branches, you see, +turn in various directions and are curved downward at the ends. +This tree has also the peculiar habit of sending out little +branchlets full of leaves along the stem from the root upward, and +this has a very pretty effect, like that of some elm trees. It is +the pitch-pine that produces the fragrance we are all enjoying so +much. What do you notice about the smoother trees?"</p> +<p class="right"><img src="Images/331.png" width="40%" alt=""><br> +<b>THE WHITE PINE.</b></p> +<p>"They are very tall and big," replied Clara--"ever so much +handsomer than the rough ones."</p> +<p>"The white pine," said Miss Harson, "is one of the loftiest and +most valuable of North American trees. Its top can be seen at a +great distance, looking like a spire as it towers above the heads +of the trees around it. You see that it has widespread branches and +silken-looking, tufted foliage. The leaves are in fives and not so +stiff as those of the other pines, and you will notice that the +branches are in whorls, like a series of stages one above another. +The foliage has a tasseled effect with those long silky tufts at +the ends of the branches, and the whole outline of the tree is very +pleasing."</p> +<p>"This isn't a pine tree, is it?" asked Malcolm, touching a small +tree with very slender branches, some of them as slight as +willow-withes and covered with grayish-red bark, while that on the +main stem was bluish gray.</p> +<p class="left"><img src="Images/332.png" width="40%" alt=""><br> +<b>THE LARCH.</b></p> +<p>"It is a species of pine," was the reply, "because it belongs to +the Coniferae, or cone-producing, family; but it is not an +evergreen, although it ranks as such. This is the larch--generally +called in New England by its Indian name of <i>hacmatack</i>--and +it differs from the other pines in its crowded tufts of leaves, +which, after turning to a soft leather-color, fall, in New England, +early in November. The cones, too, are very small."</p> +<p>"What's the use of cones, any way?" asked Malcolm as he picked +up some very large ones under the white and pitch pines.</p> +<p class="right"><img src="Images/333.png" width="30%" alt=""><br> +<b>FOLIAGE OF THE<br> +LARCH (<i>Larix<br> +Americana</i>).</b></p> +<p>"Their principal use," replied his governess, "is to contain the +seeds of future trees: they are the fruit of the pine; but they +have a number of uses besides, which you shall hear about this +evening."</p> +<p>"The little cones at Hemlock Lodge are pretty," said Edith, "and +Clara and me play with 'em. We play they're a orphan-'sylum."</p> +<p>"'Clara and I,' dear," corrected Miss Harson, smiling at the +"orphan-'sylum," while Malcolm said he had never thought of that +before, and it must be what they were meant for. Edith could not +quite understand whether this was fun or earnest, but Miss Harson +shook her head at Malcolm and called him "naughty boy."</p> +<p>"The spruce and hemlock," continued their governess, "and many +of the other evergreens, we have at Elmridge, but I brought you +here to-day for our drive that you might examine these magnificent +pine trees, and so be better able to understand whatever we can +find out about them this evening. Thomas is probably tired of +waiting by this time; so we will leave the fragrant pine-woods for +the present, and promise ourselves some future visits."</p> +<p>Every green thing was now in full summer beauty, and daisies and +buttercups gemmed the fields, while the garden at Elmridge was all +aglow with blossoms, The children remembered their flower-studies +of last year, and took fresh pleasure in the woods because of them; +but the trees now seemed quite as interesting as the flowers had +been.</p> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<p>"The trees known as evergreens," said Miss Harson, "are not so +bright and cheerful-looking as those which are deciduous, or +leaf-shedding, but they have the advantage of being clothed with +foliage, although of a sober hue, all the year round. They consist +of pines, firs, junipers, cypresses, spruces, larches, yews and +hemlocks, with some foreign trees, and form a distinct and striking +natural group. 'This family has claims to our particular attention +from the importance of its products in naval, and especially in +civil and domestic, architecture, and in many other arts, and, in +some instances, in medicine. Some of the species in this country +are of more rapid growth, attain to a larger size and rise to a +loftier height than any other trees known. The white pine is much +the tallest of our native trees.'"</p> +<p>"How high does it grow, Miss Harson?" asked Clara.</p> +<p>"From one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet," was replied, +"and on the north-west coast of America one called the 'Douglas's +pine' is the loftiest tree known; it is said to measure over three +hundred feet. 'From the pines are obtained the best masts and much +of the most valuable ship-timber, and in the building and finishing +of houses they are of almost indispensable utility. The bark of +some of them, as the hemlock and larch, is of great value in +tanning, and from others are obtained the various kinds of pitch, +tar, turpentine, resin and balsams,' The pines and firs have +circles of branches in imperfect whorls around the trunk, and, as +one of these whorls is formed each year, it is easy to calculate +the age of young trees. In thick woods the lower whorls of branches +soon decay for want of light and air, and this leaves a smooth +trunk, which rises without a branch, like a beautiful shaft, for a +hundred feet or more.</p> +<p>"These trees are found everywhere except in the hot regions +around the equator. The white pine is the most common, but in the +evergreen woods of our own country it is mixed with pitch-pine and +fir trees. In our Southern States there are thin forests, called +pine-barrens, through which one can travel for miles on horseback. +The white pine is easily distinguished by its leaves being in +fives, by its very long cones, composed of loosely-arranged scales, +and when young by the smoothness and delicate light-green color of +the bark. It is known throughout New England by the name 'white +pine,' which is given it on account of the whiteness of the wood. +In England it is called the Weymouth pine.</p> +<p>"Many very large trees are found in Maine, on the Penobscot +River, but most of the largest and most valuable timber trees have +been cut down. The lumberers, as they are called, are constantly +hewing down the grand old trees for timber, white pine being the +principal timber of New England and Canada."</p> +<p>"And they float it down the rivers on rafts, don't they?" said +Malcolm. "Won't you tell us about that, Miss Harson?"</p> +<p>"Yes," was the reply.--"But do not look so expectant, Edie; it +is not a story, dear, only a description of pine-cutting in the +forests of Maine and Canada. But I should like you to know how +these great trees are turned into timber, and you will see that, +like many other necessary things, it is neither easy nor pleasant. +We do not get much without hard work on the part of somebody: +remember that. Now I will read:</p> +<p>"'The business of procuring trees suitable for masts of ships is +difficult and fatiguing. The pines which grew in the neighborhood +of the rivers and in the most accessible places have all been cut +down. Paths have now to be cleared with immense labor to the +recesses of the forest, in order to obtain a fresh supply. This +arduous employment is called "lumbering," and those who engage in +it are "lumberers." The word "lumber," in its general sense, +applies to all kinds of timber. But though many different trees, +such as oak, ash and maple, are cut down, yet the main business is +with the pines. And when a suitable plot of ground has been chosen +for erecting a saw-mill,' to prepare the boards, 'it is called +"pine-land," or a spot where the pine trees predominate.</p> +<p>"'A body of wood-cutters unite to form what is called a +"lumbering-party," and they are in the employ of a +master-lumberman, who pays them wages and finds them in provisions. +The provisions are obtained on credit and under promise of payment +when the timber has been cut down and sold. If the timber meets +with any accident in its passage down the river, the +master-lumberman cannot make good the loss, and the shopkeeper +loses his money.</p> +<p>"'When the lumbering-party are ready to start, they take with +them a supply of necessaries, and also what tools they will +require, and proceed up the river to the heart of the forest. When +they reach a suitable spot where the giant trees which are to serve +for masts grow thick and dark, they get all their supplies on +shore--their axes, their cooking-utensils and the casks of +molasses'--and too often of whisky or rum, too, I am sorry to +say--'that will be used lavishly. The molasses is used instead of +sugar to sweeten the great draughts of tea--made, not from the +product of China, but from the tops of the hemlock.</p> +<p>"'The first thing to be done is to build some kind of shelter, +for they must remain in the forest until spring, and the cold of +those Northern winters is terrible. Their cabin--for it cannot be +called by any better name--is built of logs of wood cut down on +purpose and put together as rudely as possible. It is only five +feet high, and the roof is covered with boards. There is a great +blazing fire kept up day and night, for the frost is intense, and +the provisions have to be kept in a deep place made in the ground +under the cabin. The smoke of the fire goes out through a hole in +the roof, and the floor is strewn with branches of fir, the only +couch the poor hardworking lumberers have to rest upon. When night +comes, they turn into the cabin to sleep, and lie with their feet +to the fire. If a man chances to awaken, he instantly jumps up and +throws fresh logs on the fire; for it is of the utmost importance +not to let it go out. One of the men is the cook for the whole +party, and his duty is to have breakfast ready before it is light +in the morning. He prepares a meal of boiled meat and the hemlock +tea sweetened with molasses, and the rest of the party partake +heartily of both, and in some camps also of rum, under the mistaken +notion that it helps them to bear the severe toil. When breakfast +is over, they divide into several gangs. One gang cuts down the +trees, another saws them in pieces, and the third gang is occupied +in conveying them, by means of oxen, to the bank of the nearest +stream, which is now frozen over.</p> +<p>"'It is a hard winter for the lumbermen. The snow covers the +ground until the middle of May, and the frost is often intense. But +they toil through it, felling, sawing and conveying until a +quantity of trees have been laid prostrate and made available for +the market. Then, at last, the weather changes; the snow begins to +melt and the streams and rills are set at liberty. The rivers flow +briskly on and are much swollen with the melting snow, and the men +say that the freshets have come down.</p> +<p>"'Hard as their toil has been, the most difficult and fatiguing +has yet to be encountered. The timber is collected on the banks of +the river, and has now to be thrown into the water and made into +rafts, so that it can be floated down to the nearest market-town. +The water, filled with melting snow, is deadly cold and can +scarcely be endured, but the men are in it from morning till night +constructing the rafts, which are put together as simply as +possible, and the smallest outlay made to suffice. The rafts are of +different sizes, according to the breadth of the stream; and when +all is ready, they are launched, and the convoy fairly sets out on +its voyage.</p> +<p>"'The great ugly masses of floating timber move slowly along +under the care of a pilot, and the lumberers ride upon the rafts, +often without shelter or protection from the weather. They guide +themselves by long and powerful poles fixed on pivots, and which +act as rudders. As they journey down the stream they sing and shout +and make the utmost noise and riot. If there comes a storm or a +change of weather, the pilot steers his convoy into some safe creek +for the night, and secures it as best he can.</p> +<p>"'Thus by degrees the raft reaches the place of destination, +occasionally with some loss and damage to the timber. In this case +the master-lumberer bears the loss, and is obliged to refund the +expenses incurred as best he can. At any rate, the men are now paid +off, and set out on foot for their homes.'"</p> +<p>Malcolm was particularly delighted with this narrative of +stirring activity, and even the little girls seemed very much +interested in it. They were so sorry for the poor lumbermen who had +such dreary winters off there in the Northern woods, and Clara +wondered if they couldn't have warm comforters and mittens.</p> +<p>"They probably have those things when they go into camp," said +Miss Harson, "but they are likely to find them in the way of +working, and to cast them aside.--Great ships are not built for +nothing: even to get the timber in readiness costs heavy labor, +but, after all, no doubt, the men get interested in it and enjoy +its excitement. Fortunately for the many uses to which its timber +is put, the white pine grows very rapidly, gaining from fifteen +inches to three feet every year. In deep and damp old woods it is +slower of growth; it is then almost without sap-wood and has a +yellowish color like the flesh of the pumpkin. For this reason it +is called 'pumpkin-pine.' The bark of young trees of the white-pine +species is very smooth and of a reddish, bottle-green color. It is +covered in summer with a pearly gloss. On old trunks the bark is +less rough than that of any other pine. This tree has the spreading +habit of the cedar of Lebanon. In addition to its grand and +picturesque character, the white pine, says a lover of trees, may +be 'regarded as a true symbol of benevolence. Under its outspread +roof numerous small animals, nestling in the bed of dry leaves that +cover the ground, find shelter and repose. The squirrel feeds upon +the kernels obtained from its cones; the hare browses upon the +trefoil'--clover--'and the spicy foliage of the +<i>hypericum</i>'--St. John's wort--'which are protected in its +shade; and the fawn reposes on its brown couch of leaves unmolested +by the outer tempest. From its green arbors the quails are often +roused in midwinter, where they feed upon the berries of the +<i>Mitchella</i> and the spicy wintergreen. Nature, indeed, seems +to have specially designed this tree to protect her living +creatures both in summer and in winter.'"</p> +<p>"Hurrah for the white pine," said Malcolm, with great energy, +"the grand old <i>American</i> tree!"</p> +<p>"I'm glad that the little birds and animals have such a nice +home under it in winter," said Clara.</p> +<p>"I'm glad too," added Edith, "but I wish we could find some and +see how they look in their soft bed. Don't they ever put their +heads out the least bit, Miss Harson?"</p> +<p>"Not when they suspect that there is any one around, dear, and +the little creatures are very sharp to find this out. Our heavenly +Father, you know, takes thought for sparrows and all such helpless +things, and they are fed and cared for without any thought of their +own.--The white pine," she continued, "is truly a magnificent tree, +but I think we shall find that the pitch-pine is also very +useful."</p> +<p>"That's the rough one," said Malcolm; "I remember how it looks, +with little tufts sticking out along the trunk."</p> +<p>"Yes," replied his governess, "and out authority says this tree +is distinguished by its leaves being in threes--the white pine, you +know, has them in <i>fives</i>--by the rigidity and sharpness of +the scales of its cones, by the roughness of its bark, and by the +denseness of the brushes of its stiff, crowded leaves. Its usual +height is from forty to fifty feet, but it is sometimes much +taller. The trunk is not only rough, but very dark in color; and +from this circumstance the species is frequently called black pine. +The wood is very hard and firm, and contains a quantity of resin. +This is much more abundant in the branches than in the trunk, and +the boards and other lumber of this wood are usually full of +pitch-knots."</p> +<p>"What are pitch-knots?" asked Clara.</p> +<p>"'When a growing branch,'" read Miss Harson, "'is broken off, +the remaining portion becomes charged with resin,' which is +deposited by the resin-bearing sap of the tree, 'forming what is +called a pitch-knot, extending sometimes to the heart. The same +thing takes place through the whole heart of a tree when, full of +juice, its life is suddenly destroyed.' 'Resin' is another name for +turpentine, but is used of it commonly when hardened into a solid +form. The tar is obtained by slowly burning splintered pine, both +trunk and root, with a smothered flame, and collecting the black +liquid, which is expelled by the heat and caught in cavities +beneath the burning pile. Pitch is thickened tar, and is used in +calking ships and for like purposes."</p> +<p>"I am going to remember that," said Malcolm; "I could never make +out what all those different things meant."</p> +<p>"What are you thinking about so seriously, Clara?" asked her +governess. "If it is a puzzle, let me see if I cannot solve it for +you."</p> +<p>"Well, Miss Harson, I was thinking of those brown leaves, or +'needles,' in the pine-woods, and it seems strange to say that the +leaves of evergreens never fall off."</p> +<p>"It would not only be strange, dear, but quite untrue, to say +that; for the same leaves do not, of course, remain for ever on the +tree. The deciduous trees lose their leaves in the autumn and are +entirely bare until the next spring, but the evergreens, although +they renew their leaves, too, are never left without verdure of +some sort. Late in October you may see the yellow or brown foliage +of the pines, then ready to fall, surrounding the branches of the +previous year's growth, forming a whorl of brown fringe surmounted +by a tuft of green leaves of the present year's growth. Their +leaves always turn yellow before the fall."</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX." id="CHAPTER_XIX."></a>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> +<h3><i>GIANT AND NUT PINES</i>.</h3> +<br> +<p>Great was the surprise of Edith when Miss Harson gave the little +sleeper a gentle shake and told her that it was time to be up. But +the birds without the window told the same story, and the little +maiden was soon at the breakfast-table and ready for the day's +duties and enjoyments, including their "tree-talk."</p> +<p>"Are there any more kinds of pine trees?" asked Malcolm.</p> +<p class="ctr"><img src="Images/350.png" width="40%" alt=""><br> +<b>"AWAKE, LITTLE ONE!".</b></p> +<p>"Yes, indeed!--more than we can take up this summer," replied +Miss Harson. "There is the Norway pine, or red pine, which in Maine +and New Hampshire is often seen in forests of white and pitch pine. +It has a tall trunk of eighty feet or so, and a smooth reddish +bark. The leaves are in twos, six or eight inches long, and form +large tufts or brushes at the end of the branchlets. The wood is +strong and resembles that of the pitch-pine, but it contains no +resin. The giant pines of California belong to a different species +from any that we have been considering, and the genus, or order, in +which they have been arranged is called <i>Sequoia</i><a name= +"FNanchor19" id="FNanchor19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19">[19]</a>. +They are generally known, however, as the 'Big Trees.' In one grove +there are a hundred and three of them, which cover a space of fifty +acres, called 'Mammoth-Tree Grove.' One of the giants has been +felled--a task which occupied twenty-two days. It was impossible to +cut it down, in the ordinary sense of the term, and the men had to +bore into it with augers until it was at last severed in twain. +Even then the amazing bulk of the tree prevented it from falling, +and it still kept its upright position. Two more days were employed +in driving wedges into the severed part on one side, thus to compel +the giant to totter and fall. The trunk was no less than three +hundred and two feet in height and ninety-six in circumference. The +stump, which was left standing, presented such a large surface that +a party of thirty couples have danced with ease upon it and still +left abundant room for lookers-on."</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_19" id="Footnote_19"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor19">[19]</a> <i>Sequoia gigantea</i>.</blockquote> +<p>When the children had sufficiently exclaimed over the size of +this huge tree, their governess continued:</p> +<p>"It is thought that these trees must have been growing for more +than two thousand years, which would make them probably two hundred +years old at the birth of our Saviour. Does it not seem wonderful +to think of? There are other groups of giant pines scattered on the +mountains and in the forests, and some youthful giants about five +hundred years old."</p> +<p>"I suppose they are the babies of the family," said Clara; and +this idea amused Edith very much.</p> +<p>"There is still another kind of pine," said Miss Harson--"the +Italian, or stone, pine. It is shaped almost exactly like an +umbrella with a very long handle. The <i>Pinus pinea</i> bears +large cones, the seed of which is not only eatable, but considered +a delicious nut. The cone is three years in ripening; it is then +about four inches long and three wide, and has a reddish hue. Each +scale of which the cone is formed is hollow at the base and +contains a seed much larger than that of any other species. When +the cone is ripe, it is gathered by the owners of the forest; and +when thoroughly dried on the roof or thrown for a few minutes into +the fire, it separates into many compartments, from each of which +drops a smooth white nut in shape like the seed of the date. The +shell is very hard, and within it is the fruit, which is much used +in making sweetmeats. The stone-pine is found also in Palestine, +and is supposed to be the cypress of the Bible. The author of +<i>The Ride Through Palestine</i><a name="FNanchor20" id= +"FNanchor20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20">[20]</a> speaks of passing +through a fine grove of the stone-pine, 'tall and umbrella-topped,' +with dry sticks rising oddly here and there from the very tops of +the trees. These sticks were covered with birdlime, to snare the +poor bird which might be tempted to set foot on such treacherous +supports; and if the cones were ripe, they would be quite sure to +do it. Here is the picture, from the book just mentioned. Italian +pine is a prettier name than stone-pine, and this is the name by +which it is known to artists, who put it into almost every picture +of Italian scenery.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_20" id="Footnote_20"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor20">[20]</a> Presbyterian Board of +Publication.</blockquote> +<p class="ctr"><img src="Images/354.png" width="40%" alt=""><br> +<b>STONE-PINE--"FIR" <i>(Pinus maritima</i>).</b></p> +<blockquote>"'Much they admire that old religious tree<br> +With shaft above the rest upshooting free,<br> +And shaking, when its dark locks feel the wind,<br> +Its wealthy fruit with rough and massive rind.'"<br></blockquote> +<p>"But how queer it sounds to call fruit <i>wealthy</i>!" said +Malcolm.</p> +<p>"It is odd," replied his governess, "only because the word is +not now used in that sense; but the fruit is wealthy both because +of its abundance and because it can be put to so many uses. Let us +see what is said of it:</p> +<p>"'The kernels, or seeds, from the cones of the stone-pine have +always been esteemed as a delicacy. In the old days of Rome and +Greece they were preserved in honey, and some of the larders of the +ill-fated city of Pompeii were amply stored with jars of this +agreeable conserve, which were found intact after all those years. +The kernels are also sugared over and used as <i>bonbons</i>. They +enter into many dishes of Italian cookery, but great care has to be +taken not to expose them to the air. They are usually kept in the +cones until they are wanted, and will then retain their freshness +for some years. The squirrels eagerly seek after the fruit of this +pine and almost subsist upon it. They take the cone in their paws +and dash out the seeds, thus scattering many of them and helping to +propagate the tree.</p> +<p class="right"><img src="Images/356.png" width="30%" alt=""><br> +<b>PINE-CONE (<i>Pinus<br> +Sylvestris</i>.)</b></p> +<p>"'There is a bird called the crossbill that makes its nest in +the pine. It fixes its nest in place by means of the resin of the +tree and coats it with the same material, so as to render it +impervious to the rain. The seeds from the cones form its chief +food, and it extracts them with its curious bill, the two parts of +which cross each other. It grasps the cone with its foot, after the +fashion of a parrot, and digs into it with the upper part of its +bill, which is like a hook, and forces out the seed with a +jerk.'"</p> +<p>The children enjoyed this account very much, and they thought +that stone-pine nuts--which they had never seen, and perhaps never +would see--must be the most delicious nuts that ever grew.</p> +<p>"What nice times the birds have," said Clara, "helping +themselves to all the good things that other people can't +reach!"</p> +<p>"They are not exactly 'people,'" replied Miss Harson, laughing; +"and, in spite of all these 'nice times,' you would not be quite +willing to change with them, I think."</p> +<p>No, on the whole, Clara was quite sure that she would not.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX." id="CHAPTER_XX."></a>CHAPTER XX.</h2> +<h3><i>MORE WINTER TREES: THE FIRS AND THE SPRUCES</i>.</h3> +<br> +<p>There were some beautiful evergreens on the lawn at Elmridge, +and, although the foliage seemed dark in summer, it gave the place +a very cheerful look in winter, when other trees were quite bare, +while the birds flew in and out of them so constantly that spring +seemed to have come long before it really did arrive.</p> +<p class="right"><img src="Images/359.png" width="40%" alt=""><br> +<b>AMERICAN WHITE SPRUCE.</b></p> +<p>"This balsam-fir," said Miss Harson as they stood near a tall, +beautiful tree that tapered to a point, "has, you see, a straight, +smooth trunk and tapers regularly and rapidly to the top. You will +notice, too, that the leaves, which are needle-shaped and nearly +flat, do not grow in clusters, but singly, and that their color is +peculiar. There are faint white lines on the upper part and a +silvery-blue tinge beneath, and this silvery look is produced by +many lines of small, shining resinous dots. The deep-green bark, +striped with gray, is full of balsam, or resin, known as balm of +Gilead or Canada balsam, and highly valued as a cure for diseases +of the lungs. The long cones are erect, or standing, and grow +thickly near the ends of the upper branches. They have round, +bluish-purple scales, and the soft color has a very pretty effect +on the tree. They ripen every year, and the lively little squirrel, +as he is called, feasts upon them, as the crossbill does on the +cones of the stone-pine. But the mischievous little animal also +barks the boughs and gnaws off the tops of the leading shoots, so +that many trees are injured and defaced by his depredations."</p> +<p>"He <i>is</i> a lively little squirrel," observed Malcolm. "How +he does race! But he doesn't gnaw our trees, does he?"</p> +<p>"No, I think not, for he prefers staying in the woods and +fields; but fir-woods are his especial delight. Our balsam-fir is +the American sister of the silver fir of Europe, both having +bluish-green foliage with a silvery under surface, in a single row +on either side of the branches, which curve gracefully upward at +the ends. The tree has a peculiarly light, airy appearance until it +is old, when there is little foliage except at the ends of the +branches. The silver fir is one of the tallest trees on the +continent of Europe, and it is remarkable for the beauty of its +form and foliage and the value of its timber."</p> +<p>"I know what this tree is," said Clara, turning to an evergreen +of stately form and graceful, drooping branches that almost touched +the ground: "it's Norway spruce. Papa told me this morning."</p> +<p class="ctr"><img src="Images/361.png" width="40%" alt=""><br> +<b>THE NORWAY PINE.</b></p> +<p>"Yes," replied her governess, "and a beautiful tree it is, like +the fir in many respects, but the bark is rougher and the cones +droop. The branches, too, are lower and more sweeping. But the fir +and the spruce are more alike than many sisters and brothers. The +Scotch fir, about which there are many interesting things to be +learned, is more rugged-looking, and the Norway spruce, which will +bear studying too, is more grand and majestic."</p> +<p class="left"><img src="Images/362.png" width="45%" alt=""><br> +<b>THE HEMLOCK SPRUCE.</b></p> +<p>"I know this one, Miss Harson," said little Edith as they came +to a sweeping hemlock near the bay-window of the dining-room.</p> +<p>"Yes, dear," was the reply; "Hemlock Lodge has made you feel +very well acquainted with the tree after which it is named. It is +one of the most beautiful of the evergreens, with its +widely-spreading branches and their delicate, fringe-like foliage; +but, although the branches are ornamental for church and house +decoration, they are very perishable, and drop their small needles +almost immediately when placed in a heated room. And now," +continued the young lady, "we have come back to warm piazza-days +again, and can have our talk in the open air."</p> +<p>So on the piazza they speedily established themselves, with Miss +Harson in the low, comfortable chair and her audience on the +crimson cushions that had been piled up in a corner.</p> +<p>"We shall find a great deal about the fir tree," said Miss +Harson, "as it is very hardy and rugged, and as common in all +Northern regions as the white birch--quite as useful, too, as we +shall soon see. This rugged species--which is generally called the +Scotch fir--is not so smooth and handsome as our balsam-fir, but it +is a tree which the people who live near the great Northern forests +of Europe could not easily do without. It belongs to the great pine +family and is often called a pine, but in the countries of Great +Britain especially it is called the Scotch fir. Although well +shaped, it is not a particularly elegant-looking tree. The branches +are generally gnarled and broken, and the style of the tree is more +sturdy than graceful. The Scotch fir often grows to the height of a +hundred feet, and the bark is of a reddish tinge. 'It is one of the +most useful of the tribe, and, like the bountiful palm, confers the +greatest blessing on the inhabitants of the country where it grows. +It serves the peasants of the bleak, barren parts of Sweden and +Lapland for food: their scanty supply of meal often runs short, and +they go to the pine to eke it out. They choose the oldest and least +resinous of the branches and take out the inner bark. They first +grind it in a mill, and then mix it with their store of meal; after +this it is worked into dough and made into cakes like pancakes. The +bark-bread is a valuable addition to their slender resources, and +sometimes the young shoots are used as well as the bark. Indeed, so +largely is this store of food drawn upon that many trees have been +destroyed, and in some places the forest is actually thinned."</p> +<p>"They're as bad as the squirrels," said Malcolm. "But how I +should hate to eat such stuff!"</p> +<p>"It may not be so very bad," replied his governess. "Some people +think that only white bread is fit to eat, but I think that Kitty's +brown bread is rather liked in this family."</p> +<p>The children all laughed, for didn't papa declare--with +<i>such</i> a sober face!--that they were eating him out of house +and home in brown bread alone? Kitty, too, pretended to grumble +because the plump loaves disappeared so fast, but she said to +herself at the same time, "Bless their hearts! let 'em eat: it's +better than a doctor's bill."</p> +<p>"A great many other things besides pancakes are made from the +tree," continued Miss Harson, "and the fresh green tops furnish +very nice carpets."</p> +<p>There was a faint "<i>Oh!</i>" at this, but, after all, it was +not so surprising as the cakes had been.</p> +<p>"They are scattered on the floors of houses as rushes used to be +in old times in England, and thus they serve as carpet and prevent +the mud and dirt that stick to the shoes of the peasants from +staining the floor; and when trodden on, the leaves give out a most +agreeable aromatic perfume."</p> +<p>"I'd like that part," said Clara.</p> +<p class="left"><img src="Images/366.png" width="40%" alt=""><br> +<b>THE BLUE SPRUCE.</b></p> +<p>"But you cannot have one part without taking it all; almost +everything, you see, has a pleasant side.-- 'The peasant finds no +limit to the use of the pine. Of its bark he makes the little canoe +which is to carry him along the river; it is simple in its +construction, and as light as possible. When he comes within safe +distance of one of those gushing, foaming cataracts that he meets +with in his course, he pushes his canoe to land and carries it on +his shoulders until the danger is past; then he launches it again, +and paddles merrily onward. Not a single nail is used in his canoe: +the planks are tightly secured together by a natural cordage made +of the roots of the pine. He splits them of the right thickness, +and with very little preparation they form exactly the material he +needs.'"</p> +<p>Malcolm evidently had some idea of making a canoe of this kind, +but he became discouraged when his governess reminded him that he +could not cut down trees, and that his father would prefer having +them left standing. It did not seem necessary to speak of any +difficulties in the way of putting the boat together.</p> +<p>"Another use for the fir is to light up the poor hut of the +peasant. 'He splits up the branches into laths and makes them into +torches. If he wants a light, he takes one of the laths and kindles +it at the fire; then he fixes it in a rude frame, which serves him +for a candlestick. The light is very brilliant while it lasts, but +is soon spent, and he is in darkness again. The same use is made of +the pine. It is no unusual circumstance, in the Scotch pine-woods, +to come upon a tree with the trunk scooped out from each side and +carried away: the cottager has been to fetch material for his +candles. But this somewhat rough usage does not hurt the tree, and +it continues green and healthy.' In our Southern States pine-fat +with resin is called lightwood, and is used for the same +purpose."</p> +<p>"That's an easy way of getting candles," said Clara.</p> +<p>"Easy, perhaps, compared with the trouble of moulding them," +replied Miss Harson, "but I do not think we should fancy either way +of preparing them."</p> +<p>"Is there anything to tell about the spruce tree?" asked +Malcolm.</p> +<p>"It is too much like the fir," replied his governess, "to have +any very distinct character; but there are species here, known as +the white and black spruce, besides the hemlock."</p> +<p>But the children thought that hemlock was hemlock: how did it +come to be spruce?</p> +<p>"Because it has the family features--leaves solitary and very +short; cones pendulous, or hanging, with the scales thin at the +edge; and the fruit ripens in a single year. The hemlock-spruce, as +it is sometimes called, is, I think, the most beautiful of the +family. 'It is distinguished from all the other pines by the +softness and delicacy of its tufted foliage, from the spruce by its +slender, tapering branchlets and the smoothness of its limbs, and +from the balsam-fir by its small terminal cones, by the +irregularity of its branches and the gracefulness of its whole +appearance.' The delicate green of the young trees forms a rich +mass of verdure, and at this season each twig has on the end a tuft +of new leaves yellowish-green in color and making a beautiful +contrast to the darker hue of last year's foliage. The bark of the +trunk is reddish, and that of the smooth branches and small twigs +is light gray. The branchlets are very small, light and slender, +and are set irregularly on the sides of the small branches; so that +they form a flat surface. This arrangement renders them singularly +well adapted to the making of brooms--a use of the hemlock familiar +to housekeepers in the country towns throughout New England. The +leaves, which are extremely delicate and of a silvery whiteness on +the under side, are arranged in a row on each side of the +branchlets. The slender, thread-like stems on which they grow make +them move easily with the slightest breath of wind, and this, with +the silvery hue underneath, gives to the foliage a glittering look +that is very pretty. But I think you all can tell me when the +hemlock is prettiest?"</p> +<p>"After a snow-storm," said Clara. "Don't we all look, almost the +first thing, at the tree by the dining-room window?"</p> +<p>"Yes," replied Miss Harson; "it is a beautiful sight with the +snow lying on it in masses and the dark green of the leaves peeping +through. 'The branches put forth irregularly from all parts of the +trunk, and lie one above another, each bending over at its +extremities upon the surface of those below, like the feathers upon +the wings of a bird,' And soft, downy plumes they look, with the +snow resting on them and making them more feathery than ever."</p> +<p>"So they are like feathers?" said Malcolm, to whom this was a +new idea, "I'll look for 'em the next time it snows; yet--" He was +going to add that he wished it would snow to-morrow; but +remembering that it was only the beginning of June, and that Miss +Harson had shown them how each season has its pleasures, he stopped +just in time.</p> +<p>"The pretty little cones of the hemlock, which grow very thickly +on the tree, have a crimson tinge at first, and turn to a light +brown. They are found hanging on the ends of the small branches, +and they fall during the autumn and winter. This tree is a native +of the coldest parts of North America, where it is found in whole +forests, and it flourishes on granite rocks on the sides of hills +exposed to the most violent storms. The wood is firm and contains +very little resin; it is much used for building-purposes. A great +quantity of tannin is obtained from the bark; and when mixed with +that of the oak, it is valuable for preparing leather.</p> +<p>"We have taken the prettiest of the spruces first," continued +Miss Harson, "and now we must see what are the differences between +them. 'The two species of American spruce, the black and the +white--or, as they are more commonly called, the double and the +single--are distinguished from the fir and the hemlock in every +stage of growth by the roughness of the bark on their branches, +produced by little ridges running down from the base of each leaf, +and by the disposition of the leaves, which are arranged in spirals +equally on every side of the young shoots. The double is +distinguished from the single spruce by the darker color of the +foliage--whence its name of black spruce--by the greater thickness, +in proportion to the length, of the cones, and by the looseness of +its scales, which are jagged, or toothed, on the edge.' It is a +well-proportioned tree, but stiff-looking, and the dark foliage, +which never seems to change, gives it a gloomy aspect. The leaves +are closely arranged in spiral lines. The black spruce is never a +very large tree, but the wood is light, elastic and durable, and is +valuable in shipbuilding, for making ladders and for shingles. The +young shoots are much in demand for making spruce-beer. The white +spruce is more slender and tapering, and the bark and leaves are +lighter. The root is very tough, and the Canadian Indians make +threads from the fibres, with which they sew together the +birch-bark for their canoes. The wood is as valuable as that of the +black spruce."</p> +<p>"Does the Norway spruce come from Norway?" asked Clara.</p> +<p>"Yes; that is its native land, where it presents its most grand +and beautiful appearance. There it 'rivals the palm in stature, and +even attains the height of one hundred and eighty feet. Its +handsome branches spread out on every side and clothe the trunk to +its base, while the summit of the tree ends in an arrow-like point. +In very old trees the branches droop at the extremities, and not +only rest upon the ground, but actually take root in it and grow. +Thus a number of young trees are often seen clustering around the +trunk of an old one.'"</p> +<p>"Why, that's like the banyan tree," said Malcolm.</p> +<p>"Only there is a difference in the manner of growth, for the +branches of the banyan are some distance from the ground and send +forth rootlets without touching it. The Norway spruce is also the +great tree of the Alps, where it seems to match the majestic +scenery. The timber is valuable for building; and when sawed into +planks, it is called white deal, while that of the Scotch fir is +red deal.</p> +<p>"And now," said Miss Harson, "before we leave the firs, let us +see what is said about them in the Bible. They were used for +shipbuilding in the city of Tyre; for the prophet Ezekiel says, +'They have made all thy ship boards of fir trees of Senir<a name= +"FNanchor21" id="FNanchor21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21">[21]</a>,' +and it is written that 'David and all the house of Israel played +before the Lord on all manner of instruments made of +firwood<a name="FNanchor22" id="FNanchor22"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_22">[22]</a>.' The same wood was used then in building +houses, as you will find, Malcolm, by turning to the Song of +Solomon, seventh chapter, seventeenth verse."</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_21" id="Footnote_21"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor21">[21]</a> Ezek. xxvii. 5.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_22" id="Footnote_22"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor22">[22]</a> 2 Sam. vi. 5.</blockquote> +<p>"'The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir,'" +read Malcolm.</p> +<p>"In Kings it is said, 'So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir +trees, according to his desire<a name="FNanchor23" id= +"FNanchor23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23">[23]</a>,' and these trees +were to be used for the very house, or palace, of which the Jewish +king speaks in his Song. Evergreens are often mentioned in the +Bible, and in that beautiful Christmas chapter, the sixtieth of +Isaiah, you will find the fir tree again.--Read the thirteenth +verse, Clara."</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_23" id="Footnote_23"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor23">[23]</a> I Kings v. 10.</blockquote> +<p>"'The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the +pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my +sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious.'--What is +'the glory of Lebanon,' Miss Harson?"</p> +<p>"The cedar of Lebanon, dear; and we will now turn our attention +to that and the other cedars."</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI." id="CHAPTER_XXI."></a>CHAPTER XXI.</h2> +<h3><i>THE CEDARS</i>.</h3> +<br> +<p>"The cypress tribe," said Miss Harson, "differ from the pines, +or Coniferae, by not having their fruit in a true cone, but in a +roundish head which consists of a small number of scales, sometimes +forming a sort of berry. One of the most common of this family is +the arbor vitae, or tree of life--a tree so small as to look like a +pointed shrub, and more used for fences than for ornament. An +arbor-vitae hedge, you know, divides our flower garden from the +kitchen-garden and goes all the way down to the brook."</p> +<p>"I like the smell of it," said Clara. "Don't you, Miss +Harson?"</p> +<p class="ctr"><img src="Images/377.png" width="40%" alt=""><br> +<b>SIBERIAN ARBOR VITAE.</b></p> +<p>"Yes," was the reply, "there is something very fresh and +pleasant about it; and when well kept, as John is sure to keep +ours, it makes a beautiful hedge. As a tree it has been known to +reach forty or fifty feet in height, with a trunk ten feet in +circumference. The leaves are arranged in four rows, in alternately +opposite pairs, and seem to make up the fan-like branchlets. These +branchlets look like parts of a large compound, flat leaf. The bark +is slightly furrowed, smooth to the touch, and very white when the +tree stands exposed. The wood is reddish, somewhat odorous, very +light, soft and fine-grained. In the northern part of the United +States and in Canada it holds the first place for durability."</p> +<p>"I thought the cypress was a flower," said Malcolm.</p> +<p>"So one kind of cypress is," replied his governess--"the blossom +of an airy-looking and beautiful creeper; but the name also belongs +to a family of trees. The white cedar, or cypress, is a very +graceful tree which generally grows in swamps. 'It is entirely free +from the stiffness of the pines, and to the spiry top of the poplar +it unites the airy lightness of the hemlock. The trunk is straight +and tall, tapering very gradually, and toward the top there are +short irregular branches, forming a small but beautiful head, above +which the leading shoot waves like a slender plume.' The leaves are +very small and scale-like, with sharp points, and grow in four rows +on the ends of the branchlets, giving them the appearance of large +compound leaves. The wood is very durable, and is used for many +building-purposes. It is generally of a faint rose-color, and +always keeps its aromatic odor."</p> +<p class="right"><img src="Images/379.png" width="30%" alt=""><br> +<b>IRISH JUNIPER.</b></p> +<p>"Is that what our cedar-chests are made of to keep the moths +from our winter clothes?" asked Clara.</p> +<p>"Yes," replied Miss Harson, "but the name 'cedar' is; not +correct, though it is one commonly given to this tree. The wood of +the European cypress is also used for many purposes where strength +and durability are required, for it really seems never to wear out. +This tree is described as tapering and cone-like, with upright +branches growing close to the trunk, and in its general appearance +a little resembling a poplar. Its frond-like branches are closely +covered with very small sharp-pointed leaves of a yellow-green +color, smooth and shining, and they remain on the tree five or six +years. The cypress is often seen in burying-grounds in Europe, and +in Turkey it often stands at each end of a grave. The oldest tree +in Europe is thought to be an Italian cypress said to have been +planted in the year of our Saviour's birth; it is an object of +great reverence in the neighborhood. This ancient tree is a hundred +and twenty feet high and twenty-three feet around the trunk.</p> +<p>"The juniper--or red cedar, as it is improperly called--is not a +handsome tree, but it is a very useful one. It has a scraggy, +stunted look, and the foliage is apt to be rusty; but it will grow +in rocky, sandy places where no other tree would even try to hold +up its head, and the wood, when made into timber, lasts for a great +many years. Posts for fences are made of the juniper or red cedar, +and the shipbuilder, boatbuilder, carpenter, cabinet-maker and +turner are all steady customers for it. The 'cedar-apples' found on +this tree are one phase of the life of a very curious fungus. They +are covered with a reddish-brown bark; and when fresh, they are +tough and fleshy, somewhat like an unripe apple. When dry they +become of a woody nature."</p> +<p>"They pucker up your mouth awfully," said Malcolm, who had made +several attempts to eat them; but, do what he would, he could not +even "make believe" they were nice.</p> +<p>"I have no doubt of it," was the reply, "remembering the +dreadful faces I have seen on some of our rambles. But the birds +like them, as they do everything of the kind that is not +poisonous."</p> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<p>"Isn't it beautiful?" exclaimed the children, in delight. They +were admiring a magnificent cedar of Lebanon in one of the pictures +which Miss Harson had collected for their benefit, and it seemed no +wonder that the grand spreading tree should be called "the glory of +Lebanon."</p> +<p>"It is indeed beautiful," replied their governess; "and think of +seeing a whole mountain covered with such trees! A traveler speaks +of them as the most solemnly impressive trees in the world, and +says that their massive trunks, clothed with a scaly texture almost +like the skin of living animals and contorted with all the +irregularities of age, may well have suggested those ideas of +royal, almost divine, strength and solidity which the sacred +writers ascribe to them.--Turn to the ninety-second psalm, Clara, +and read the twelfth verse."</p> +<p>"'The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree; he shall grow +like a cedar in Lebanon.'"</p> +<p>"In the thirty-first chapter of Ezekiel," continued Miss Harson, +"it is written, 'Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with +fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; +and his top was among the thick boughs. The waters made him great, +the deep set him up on high with her rivers running round about his +plants, and sent out her little rivers unto all the trees of the +field. Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the +field and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long +because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth. All the +fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his +branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, +and under his shadow dwelt all great nations.'"</p> +<p class="ctr"><img src="Images/383.png" width="50%" alt=""><br> +<b>CEDAR OF LEBANON.</b></p> +<p>"Are the leaves like those of our cedar trees?" asked Malcolm, +who was studying the picture quite intently. "The tree doesn't look +like 'em."</p> +<p>"They are somewhat like them," replied his governess, "being +slender and straight and about an inch long. They grow in tufts, +and in the centre of some of the tufts there is a small cone which +is very pretty and often brought to this country by travelers for +their friends at home. In <i>The Land and the Book</i> there is a +picture of small branches with cones, and the author says of the +cedar: 'There is a striking peculiarity in the shape of this tree +which I have not seen any notice of in books of travel. The +branches are thrown out horizontally from the parent trunk. These +again part into limbs, which preserve the same horizontal +direction, and so on down to the minutest twigs; and even the +arrangement of the clustered leaves has the same general tendency. +Climb into one, and you are delighted with a succession of verdant +floors spread around the trunk and gradually narrowing as you +ascend. The beautiful cones seem to stand upon or rise out of this +green flooring.' The same writer says that by examining the +different growths of wood inside the trunk of one of the trees +these ancient cedars of Lebanon have been proved to be three +thousand five hundred years old."</p> +<p>"Oh, Miss Harson!" exclaimed her audience; "could any tree be as +old as that?"</p> +<p>"It is possible. The circle of growing wood which is made each +year is a pretty good method of telling the age of a tree, and +these cedars of Lebanon are considered the oldest trees in the +world. Travelers have always spoken of the beauty and symmetry of +these trees, with their widespreading branches and cone-like tops. +All through the Middle Ages a visit to the cedars of Lebanon was +regarded by many persons in the light of a pilgrimage. Some of the +trees were thought to have been planted by King Solomon himself, +and were looked upon as sacred relics. Indeed, the visitors took +away so many pieces from the bark that it was feared the trees +would be destroyed. The cedars stand in a valley a considerable way +up the mountain, where the snow renders it inaccessible for part of +the year."</p> +<p>"Are the trees just in one particular place, then?" asked +Malcolm. "I thought they grew all over that country?"</p> +<p>"The principal and best-known grove of very large and ancient +cedars of Lebanon is found in one place," replied his governess, +"but there are other groves now known to exist. The famous grove +was fast disappearing, until there were but few of them left. The +pilgrims who went to visit them in such numbers in olden times were +accompanied by monks from a monastery about four miles below, who +would beseech them not to injure a single leaf. But the greatest +care could not preserve the trees. Some of them have been struck +down by lightning, some broken by enormous loads of snow, and +others torn to fragments by tempests. Some have even been cut down +with axes like any common tree. But better care is now taken of +them; so that we may hope that the grove will live and +increase."</p> +<p>"But why weren't they saved," asked Clara, "when people thought +so much of them?"</p> +<p>"It seems to be a part of the general desolation of the land of +God's chosen but rebellious people. In the third chapter of the +prophet Isaiah, verses eleven and twelve, it is said, 'For the day +of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and +lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be +brought low; and upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and +lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan.' The same prophet says, +in the tenth chapter and nineteenth verse, 'And the rest of the +trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may write them.' +These words have been particularly applied to the stately cedars of +Lebanon, for 'the once magnificent grove is but a speck on the +mountain-side. Many persons have taken it in the distance for a +wood of fir trees, but on approaching nearer and taking a closer +view the cedars resume somewhat of their ancient majesty. The space +they cover is not more than half a mile, but, once amidst them, the +beautiful fan-like branches overhead, the exquisite green of the +younger trees and the colossal size of the older ones fill the mind +with interest and admiration. Within the grove all is hushed as in +a land of the past. Where once the Tyrian workman plied his axe and +the sound of many voices came upon the ear, there are now the +silence and solitude of desertion and decay.'--Malcolm," added his +governess, "you may read us what is written in the sixth verse of +the fourteenth chapter of Hosea."</p> +<p>"'His branches,'" read Malcolm, "'shall spread, and his beauty +shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.' What does +that mean, Miss Harson?"</p> +<p>"It means the fragrant resin which exudes from both the trunk +and the cones of the beautiful cedar. It is soft, and its fragrance +is like that of the balsam of Mecca. 'Everything about this tree +has a strong balsamic odor, and hence the whole grove is so +pleasant and fragrant that it is delightful to walk in it. The wood +is peculiarly adapted for building, because it is not subject to +decay, nor is it eaten of worms. It was much used for rafters and +for boards with which to cover houses and form the floors and +ceilings of rooms. It was of a red color, beautiful, solid and free +from knots. The palace of Persepolis, the temple of Jerusalem and +Solomon's palace were all in this way built with cedar, and the +house of the forest of Lebanon was perhaps so called from the +quantity of this wood used in its construction.' We are told in +First Kings that Solomon 'built also the house of the forest of +Lebanon<a name="FNanchor24" id="FNanchor24"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_24">[24]</a>,' and that 'he made three hundred shields +of beaten gold' and 'put them in the house of the forest of +Lebanon<a name="FNanchor25" id="FNanchor25"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_25">[25]</a>.' All the drinking-vessels, too, of this +wonderful palace, which is always spoken of as 'the house of the +forest of Lebanon,' were of pure gold, and its magnificence shows +how highly the beautiful cedar-wood was valued."</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_24" id="Footnote_24"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor24">[24]</a> I Kings vii. 2.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_25" id="Footnote_25"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor25">[25]</a> I Kings x. 17.</blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII." id="CHAPTER_XXII."></a>CHAPTER +XXII.</h2> +<h3><i>THE PALMS</i>.</h3> +<br> +<p>"There is a wonderful evergreen," said Miss Harson, "which grows +in tropical countries, and also in some sub-tropical countries, +such as the Holy Land, and is said to have nearly as many uses as +there are days in a year. You must tell me what it is when you have +seen the picture."</p> +<p class="left"><img src="Images/390.png" width="30%" alt=""><br> +<b>PALM TREE.</b></p> +<p>Malcolm and Clara both pronounced it a palm tree, and Clara +asked if there were any such trees growing in this country.</p> +<p>"Some of its relations are found on our Southern seacoast," +replied their governess; "South Carolina, you know, is called 'the +Palmetto State.' There is a member of the family called the +cabbage-palmetto, the unexpanded leaves of which are used as a +table vegetable, which you may see in Florida. Its young leaves are +all in a mass at the top, and when boiled make a dish something +like cabbage. The leaves of the palmetto are also used, when +perfect, in the manufacture of hats, baskets and mats, and for many +other purposes. But its stately and majestic cousin, the date-palm +of the East, with its tall, slender stalk and magnificent crown of +feathery leaves, has had its praises sung in every age and clime. +'Besides its great importance as a fruit-producer, it has a special +beauty of its own when the clusters of dates are hanging in golden +ripeness under its coronal of dark-green leaves. Its well-known +fruit affords sustenance to the dwellers on the borders of the +great African desert; it is as necessary to them as is the camel, +and in many cases they may be said to owe their existence to it +alone. The tree rears its column-like stem to the height of ninety +feet, and its crown consists of fifty leaves about twelve feet in +length and fringed at the edges like a feather. Between the leaf +and the stem there issue several horny spathes, or sheaths, out of +which spring clusters of panicles that bear small white flowers,' +These flowers are followed by the dates, which grow in a dense +bunch that hangs down several feet."</p> +<p>"But how do people manage to climb such a tree as that," asked +Malcolm, "to get the dates? It goes straight up in the air without +any branches, and looks as if it would snap in two if any one tried +it."</p> +<p>"It does not snap, though, for it is very strong; and the +climbing is easier than you imagine, even when the tree is a +hundred feet high, as it sometimes is. The trunk, you see, is full +of rugged knots. These projections are the remains of decayed +leaves which have dropped off when their work was done. As the +older leaves decay the stalk advances in height. It has not true +wood, like most trees, but the stem has bundles of fibres that are +closely pressed together on the outer part. Toward the root these +are so entwined that they become as hard as iron and are very +difficult to cut. The tree grows very slowly, but it lives for +centuries. I have a Persian fable in rhyme for you, called</p> +<blockquote>"'THE GOURD AND THE PALM.<br> +<br> +"'"How old art thou?" said the garrulous gourd<br> +As o'er the palm tree's crest it poured<br> +Its spreading leaves and tendrils fine,<br> +And hung a-bloom in the morning shine.<br> +"A hundred years," the palm tree sighed.--<br> +"And I," the saucy gourd replied,<br> +"Am at the most a hundred hours,<br> +And overtop thee in the bowers."<br> +<br> +"'Through all the palm tree's leaves there went<br> +A tremor as of self-content.<br> +"I live my life," it whispering said,<br> +"See what I see, and count the dead;<br> +And every year of all I've known<br> +A gourd above my head has grown<br> +And made a boast like thine to-day,<br> +Yet here I stand; but where are they?"'"<br></blockquote> +<p>The children were very much pleased with the fable, and they +began to feel quite an affection for the venerable and useful palm +tree.</p> +<p>"The date tree," continued their governess, "as this species of +palm is often called, blossoms in April, and the fruit ripens in +October. Each tree produces from ten to twelve bunches, and the +usual weight of a bunch is about fifteen pounds. It is esteemed a +crime to fell a date tree or to supply an axe intended for that +purpose, even though the tree may belong to an enemy. The +date-harvest is expected with as much anxiety by the Arab in the +oasis as the gathering in of the wheat and corn in temperate +regions. If it were to fail, the Arabs would be in danger of +famine. The blessings of the date-palm are without limit to the +Arab. Its leaves give a refreshing shade in a region where the +beams of the sun are almost insupportable; men, and also camels, +feed upon the fruit; the wood of the tree is used for fuel and for +building the native huts; and ropes, mats, baskets, beds, and all +kinds of articles, are manufactured from the fibres of the leaves. +The Arab cannot imagine how a nation can exist without date-palms, +and he may well regard it as the greatest injury that he can +inflict upon his enemy to cut down his trees."</p> +<p>"Miss Harson," asked Edith, very earnestly, "isn't the palm tree +in the Bible?"</p> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/395.png"><img src="Images/395.png" +width="40%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>DATE-PALM AT JERICHO.</b></p> +<p>"It certainly is, dear," replied her governess, "and it is one +of the trees most frequently mentioned. In Deuteronomy, +thirty-fourth chapter, third verse, Jericho is called the 'city of +palm trees.' Travelers still speak of these trees as yet growing in +Palestine, but they are not nearly so abundant as they once were; +near Jericho only one or two can be found. There are many allusions +to the palm in the Scriptures. King David, in the ninety-second +psalm, says that the righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: +'Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in +the courts of our God. They shall bring forth fruit in old age.' +The palm is always upright, in spite of rain or wind. 'There it +stands, looking calmly down upon the world below, and patiently +yielding its large clusters of golden fruit from generation to +generation. It brings forth fruit in old age.' The allusion to +being planted in the house of the Lord is probably drawn from the +custom of planting beautiful and long-lived trees in the courts of +temples and palaces. Solomon covered all the walls of the holy of +holies round about with golden palm trees.--You will find this, +Clara, in First Kings."</p> +<p>Clara read:</p> +<p>"'And he carved all the walls of the house round about with +carved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, within +and without<a name="FNanchor26" id="FNanchor26"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_26">[26]</a>.'"</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_26" id="Footnote_26"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor26">[26]</a> I Kings vi. 29.</blockquote> +<p>"In the thirty-second verse," continued Miss Harson, "it is +written that he overlaid them with gold, 'and spread gold upon the +cherubim, and upon the palm trees.' 'They were thus planted, as it +were, within the very house of the Lord; and their presence there +was not only ornamental, but appropriate and highly suggestive--the +very best emblem not only of patience in well-doing, but of the +rewards of the righteous, a fat and flourishing old age, a peaceful +end, a glorious immortality.'"</p> +<p>"What does a 'palmer' mean, Miss Harson?" asked Malcolm. "Is it +a man who has palm trees or who sells dates? I saw the word in a +book I was reading, but I couldn't understand what it meant."</p> +<p>"In olden times," replied his governess, "when people made so +many pilgrimages, some of the pilgrims went to the Holy Land and +some to Rome and other places; but those who went to Palestine were +thought to be the most devout, both because it was so much farther +off and because there were so many sacred spots to visit there. +These pilgrims always brought home with them branches of palm, to +show that they had really been to the land where the tree grew; and +so they were called <i>palmers</i>. To say that such-a-one was a +palmer was far more than to say that he was a pilgrim."</p> +<p>"Miss Harson," said Clara, holding up one of the books, "here is +a picture called 'the cocoanut-palm,' but I didn't know that +cocoanuts grew on palm trees. Will you tell us something about +it?"</p> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/399.png"><img src="Images/399.png" +width="60%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>COCOANUT-PALM TREES IN SOUTH-EASTERN AFRICA.</b></p> +<p>"Certainly I will, dear," was the reply. "I fully intended to do +so, for the cocoanut-palm is too valuable a member of the family to +be passed over. This species does not grow in Palestine, and it is +not one of the trees of the Bible; its home is in the warmest +countries, and it grows most luxuriantly in the islands of the +tropics or near the seacoast on the main-lands. Although its +general form is similar to that of the date-palm, the foliage and +fruit are quite different. The leaves are very much broader, and +they have not the light, airy look of the foliage of the date-palm. +But 'the cocoanut-palm is the most valuable of Nature's gifts to +the inhabitants of those parts of the tropics where it grows, and +its hundred uses, as they are not inaptly called, extend beyond the +tropics over the civilized world. The beautiful islands of the +southern seas are fringed with cocoanut-palms that encircle them as +with a green and feathery belt. The ripe nuts drop into the sea, +but, protected by their husks, they float away until the tide +washes them on to the shore of some neighboring island, where they +can take root and grow.'"</p> +<p>"Wouldn't it be nice," said Edith, "if some would float +here?"</p> +<p>"A great many cocoanuts float here in ships," replied Miss +Harson, "but they would not take root and grow, because the climate +is not suited to them; it is too cold for them. We cannot have +tropical fruit without tropical heat, and I am sure that none of us +would want such a change as that. You may sometimes see small +cocoanut trees in hothouses or horticultural gardens, where they +are shielded from our cold air. The island of Ceylon, in the East +Indies, is full of cocoanut-palm trees, for they are carefully +cultivated by the inhabitants, and the feathery groves stretch mile +after mile. The tree shoots up a column-like stem to the height of +a hundred feet, and is crowned with a tuft of broad leaves about +twelve feet long. The flowers are yellowish white and grow in +clusters, and the seed ripens into a hard nut which in its fibrous +husk is about the size of an infant's head."</p> +<p>"I've seen the nut in its husk," said Malcolm, "when papa took +me down to the wharf where the ships come in. There were lots of +cocoanuts, and some of 'em had their coats on."</p> +<p>"This brown husk," continued his governess, "is a valuable part +of the nut, for the toughest ropes and cables are made of its +fibres, as well as the useful brown matting so generally used to +cover offices and passages. Brushes, nets and other domestic +articles are also manufactured from the husk. Scarcely any other +tree in the world is so useful to man or contributes so much to his +comfort as the cocoanut-palm. Food and drink are alike obtained +from it. The kernel of the nut is an article of diet, and can be +prepared in many ways. The native is almost sustained by it, and in +Ceylon it forms a part of nearly every dish. The spathe that +encloses the yet-unopened flowers is made to yield a favorite +beverage called palm-wine, or, more familiarly, 'toddy.' When the +fresh juice is used, it is an innocent and refreshing drink; but +when left to ferment, it intoxicates, and is the one evil result +from the bountiful gifts of the tree. Oil is prepared in great +quantities from the nuts and used for various purposes."</p> +<p>"Are there any more kinds of palm trees?" asked the +children.</p> +<p>"Yes," was the reply; "there are a great many members of this +most useful family, but the one that will interest you most, after +the date-and cocoanut-palm, is, I think, the sago-palm."</p> +<p class="ctr"><a href="Images/403.png"><img src="Images/403.png" +width="40%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>YOUNG COCOANUT TREE IN POT (<i>Cocos nucifera</i>).</b></p> +<p>"Why, Miss Harson!" exclaimed Clara, in surprise; "does sago +really grow on a tree?"</p> +<p>"It really grows <i>in</i> a tree--for it is a kind of starch +secreted by the tree for the use of its flowers and fruit--and in +order to obtain it the tree has to be cut down. The pith is then +taken out and cut in slices, soaked in water and roasted; and when +it assumes the shape of the small globules in which we see it, it +is ready for exportation."</p> +<p>"Well!" said Malcolm; "I never knew <i>that</i> before. We've +learned ever so many things, Miss Harson."</p> +<p>"There is one thing about the palm," said Miss Harson, "which I +have purposely left for the last--especially as it is the last also +of our trees for the present--and that is the sacred associations +which its branches have for both Jews and Christians. The Jews were +commanded on the first day of the feast of tabernacles to 'take the +boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of +thick trees, and willows of the brook, to rejoice before the Lord +their God.' The palm was a symbol of victory, and branches of it +were strewn in the path of conquerors, more especially of those who +had fought for religious truth. It is the emblem of the martyr, as +a conqueror through Christ. The Sunday before Easter is called Palm +Sunday because in the ancient churches leaves of palm were carried +that day by worshipers in memory of those strewn in the way on the +triumphal entry of the King of Zion into Jerusalem. You will find +it, Malcolm, in John."</p> +<p>Malcolm read very reverently:</p> +<p>"'On the next day, much people that were come to the feast, when +they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of +palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna; Blessed +is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord<a name= +"FNanchor27" id="FNanchor27"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_27">[27]</a>.'"</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_27" id="Footnote_27"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor27">[27]</a> John xii. 12, 13.</blockquote> +<p>"Here," said Miss Harson, "is a little hymn written on these +very verses:</p> +<blockquote>"'See a small procession slowly<br> + Toward the temple wind its way;<br> +In the midst rides, meek and lowly,<br> + One whom angel-hosts obey.<br> +<br> +"'How the shouting crowd adore him,<br> + Now, for once, they know their King;<br> +Some their garments cast before him,<br> + Green palm-branches others bring.<br> +<br> +"'Calmly, yet with holy sorrow,<br> + Christ permits the sacrifice.<br> +Knowing well that on the morrow<br> + Changed will be those fickle cries.<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<br> +<br> +"'Children, when in prayers and praises<br> + Loudly we with lips adore,<br> +While the heart no anthem raises,<br> + Are not we like those of yore?<br> +<br> +"'O Lord Jesus, let us never<br> + Lift the voice in heartless songs;<br> +Help us to remember ever<br> + All that to thy name belongs.'"<br></blockquote> +<br> + +<br> +<br> +<hr class="full" noshade> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMONG THE TREES AT ELMRIDGE***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 11723-h.txt or 11723-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br> +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/1/7/2/11723">https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/7/2/11723</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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