THREE TREES 



121 



cleared away all of ihe waste material in the woods, 

 including the poor gnarled tree, the slender one found 

 that it had all sorts of room and light to grow in, and it 

 set itself lustily to the task of growing. It continued to 

 grow tall and straight, hut it hegan to lay on thickness 

 and to increase its strength and girth. 



Some years after that it was time for some more of 

 the trees to serve man's needs, and this time they took 

 the tall straight tree. It was so tall, so straight, so smooth- 

 grained and strong that they selected it for a special pur- 

 pose. It went to the shipyard and there was made into a 

 round, tow-ering mast. It sailed over all the seven seas, 

 helping to bring delightful things from one part of the 

 world to those who wanted them in another part. 



It helped to carry gifts to the old home where the 

 little Christmas tree had stood, sugar, and fruits, and 

 cocoanuts from the tropics, coffee from Brazil to the 

 "master" of the house, and tea from Ceylon to the "niis- 

 tresse," and from China a big lamp for the table, 'round 

 which the "childrenne" used to "goe." From Italy had 

 come a little bronze statuette of a Greek athlete, whn 

 was on one side of the mantel, where the Christmas 

 motto had been. He was straining to throw a discus as far 

 as he could. Dn the other side, from Japan, a little fat, 

 calm, bronze Buddha sat with his feet crossed under him, 

 and his hands held passively in his lap. From Occident 

 and Orient, each according to its spirit, the tall tree had 

 helloed to bring them. 



You can believe this story or not, just as you choose; 

 but the forest part of it is true at least. If it sets you 

 to thinking that every life can be made useful, each in 

 its own wav, if one will onlv trv, no harm has been done. 



FAMOUS TREE SURROUNDED BY PAVEMENT 



IT IS always an amazing sight to see a great tree grow- 

 ing out of a crack in a rock, especially if it may have 

 split off a boulder of granite which the strength of a 

 dozen men could not budge. There is in fact eternal 

 warfare between the mineral and the vegetable kingdoms. 

 Rocks and boulders may appear grim and immovable, but 

 their cracks and crevices are eternally being searched by 

 the pliant growth of plants and trees and in the end 

 they always succumb to the attacks of their weaker 

 enemies. For all time this continual battle has been going 

 on, each generation of the plant world doing its share, 

 apparently serene in the knowdedge that when it dies its 

 place will be taken by another plant which will continue 

 the conflict. 



While the ability of trees to grow and thrive in rock 

 soil, or perhaps in rocks where no soil is visible, has 

 probably been noticed by most everyone, there is perhaps 

 no more striking evidence of this than can be seen in 

 most any large city wdicre the streets are paved with con- 

 crete or asphaltum. The city of Washington, for in- 

 stance, has dozens of large and thrifty trees which are 

 growing in little plots of soil not much larger than flower 

 pots. Illustrating this is the photograph of a large elm 

 tree which has stood in front of the Willard Hotel on 

 Pennsylvania Avenue since long before Civil War times. 



When the tree was first pl.uUcd the street was paved with 

 cobljle stones and the sidewalk was of ordinary porous 

 Ijrick, so that with a plentiful sujjply of moisture soaking 

 through on all sides the tree might ha\e been expected to 

 thrive. lUit for the last .'iO years the street has been 

 paved with im[)ervious asphaltum and for the last 18 or 

 yO years the sidewalk has been paved with equally water- 



now DOES IT g)':t water? 



This elm in front of the New Willard Hotel at Washington, D. C, is 

 on a street paved with asphalt and a sidewalk of concrete. It thrives 

 despite the fact that apparently it gets very little moisture. 



tiglit concrete, through neither of which a drop of mois- 

 ture can penetrate. All the moisture that this great tree 

 can get must come via the small square of earth which 

 its trunk nearly fills, and wdiich would seem hardly suffi- 

 cient to nourish a good sized shrub. 



This old tree has witnessed many famous historical 

 scenes. It ha.-; seen the marshaling of the Federal hosts 

 at the first call to war in '(11; the passing of the proud 

 columns of McClellan toward the battlefield of Bull Run 

 and their sorry return, and finally, when the great con- 

 flict was ended, the Grand Review of the battle-scarred 

 veterans of Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan, and very re- 

 cently the veteran remnant of that great army. It has 

 seen many Presidents of the United States pass to and 

 from the White House on their way to the Capitol to take 

 the oath of office and to surrender the reins of govern- 

 ment and, judging from its sturdy appearance today, it 

 will see many more. 



