42 Tii.iA EUiu)r.T;:A 



no better provided with nurseries for a tree so choice, and so universally accept- 

 able. NVe s(Mul. conniionly, lor this tree, into Fiundrrs and Holland, wliilo our 

 woods do. in some places, sjjontancously produce iheni."' The linden has long 

 been a favorite tree tor avenues and public walks, in .sonic of the princi])al towns 

 of France, Holland, and Uerniany, one of the most celebrated ol" which is in 

 Berlin, called Die Lin(hn Strussc. It also forms avenues to country-seats, 

 on the continent of Jhnope, in Britain, and in vVnierica. "The French," 

 says l)n Hamel, "growing tired of the horse-chesiuit for avenues, ado])ted the 

 lime for that purpose, in the time of Louis XIV.; and, accordingly, the ap- 

 proaches to the residences of the French, as well as the I''in<i:lish gentry of that 

 date, are bordered with lime trees;" and Fenclon, "in contbrmity to this taste, 

 decorates with ' tlowering lime-trees,' his enchanted isle of Calypso." 



The introduction of the Eiu'opean linden into America, no doubt, took place 

 soon after its settlement. In general, as it is but a short-lived tree, in this coun- 

 try, in consequence of the ravages of insects, but {c\v specimens are to be found 

 of advanced age and size, which renders it dilticult to determine the precise 

 period at which it was brought from Europe. There exists, at present, how- 

 ever, a noble and venerable tree of this species, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, 

 which is reputed to be above two hundred years old, with a trunk measuring 

 more than eight feet in circumference at three feet from the groinid. Its trunk is 

 pierced and grooved with numerous holes by the Saperda vestita; several of its 

 large branches, and a portion of its top have fallen, apparently in consequence 

 of the depredations of these insects, and in a few years more, it will probably 

 moulder to earth. 



The largest and the most remarkable linden in Europe, and probably in the 

 world, is at Neustadt. in Wiirtemberg, so famous for its size, that even the city itself 

 takes its name from it, being called by the Germans, Neustadt an der L'inde ; 

 that is, Newtown by the Great Linden-tree. This monstrosity of unknown 

 antiquity, is nearly one hundred feet in height, and eighteen feet in diameter near 

 the ground. Its trunk rises fifteen feet before it begins to ramify. The branches 

 extend to nearly one hundred feet on each side of the trunk, and are supported 

 by one hundred and eight pillars of wood and stone. There is a place of enter- 

 tainment formed in the head of the tree, which may be ascended by a flight of 

 steps. In the hollows of the branches, earth has been placed, and gooseberry 

 biishes planted, the fruit of which is sold to visiters. 



At Fribourg, in the public square, there is a large lime-tree, the branches of 

 which are supported by pieces of timber. This tree was planted on the day 

 that the victory was proclaimed of the Swiss over the Duke of Burgundy, 

 Charles the Bold, in 1476 ; and it is a monument admirably accordant with the 

 then feebleness of the Swiss republics, and the extreme simplicity of their man- 

 ners, it being the custom in the middle ages, during the struggles of the Swiss 

 and Flemish people to recover their liberty, to plant a lime-tree on the field of 

 every battle that they gained over their oppressors. In 1833, the trunk of this 

 tree measured about fourteen feet in circumference. In the village of Villars-en- 

 Morig, near Fribourg, there is a large lime-tree, which existed there long before 

 the battle of Morat, (which the tree of Fribourg commemorates,) and which 

 now is of extraordinary dimensions. According to De Candolle, in 1831, it was 

 seventy feet high, and thirty-six feet in circumference at four feet from the 

 ground, where it divided into large and perfectly sound branches. It is esti- 

 mated as being nearly one thousand years of age. 



At Knowle, south of London, there is an immense lime-tree, which spreads 

 over nearly a quarter of an acre of ground. What is very remarkable, the 

 branches of this tree, many years ago, rested their extremities on the soil, rooted 

 into it, and sent up a circle of young shoots, which surrounded the parent tree. 



