66 ON THK FLORA OF VERMONT. 



In the cold bogs and shaded ravines and hillsides of 

 the northern portion of the state wo find (.'anadian and 

 other northern plants quite abundantly mingled with the 

 more southern vegetation, and all over the state there are 

 many I'ogions where this union of the two floras occurs to a 

 greater or less extent. B(>sides this, on the sunnnifs of 

 Mansfield and other of onr highest mountains, Alpine plants 

 are found, with small and rough looking forms indeed, but 

 bearing delicate flowers, and in contrast with the barren- 

 ness about them, a[)pearing more delightful than many 

 luxuriant forms that grow in more fiivored localities. 



The state produces many valuable trees and it is a dis- 

 agreable fact that in many parts of the state their value is 

 appreciated only so far as it is represented by the dollars 

 and cents paid at the saw-mill. Should the present ruth- 

 less destruction of our forests continue, the time will come 

 when the (rreen Momitains will be liut bleak and ban-en 

 elevations, hurling landslides and torrents upon the prop- 

 erty of those beneath them. This is not the place to treat 

 of this subject, but it is difficult to pass it without a word 

 of remonstrance against the present thoughtlesfj cutting 

 away of trees. 



(rrowing high on the mountain sides, with scarcely any 

 soil l)ut rock, we have the Pines, P'irs, Spruces and others 

 of the Conifertv. These also flourish on sandy plains and 

 other barren regions where scarcely any other tree or plant 

 can live at all. There are a dozen species of this family in 

 the state, all of them valuable for timber and many for or- 

 namental purposes, while they render no small service in 

 holding in place the loose soil in which they so often grow, 

 and so prevent it from falling down steep descents in 

 landslides, or from being washed away by rains and fresh- 

 ets and spread over cultivated fields. 



Bordering the banks of the larger streams we find the 

 Silver ^Nlaple (Acer dasycarpum) , lied Maple (A. riihrum), 

 smooth-barked. Ash-leaved ]Maple {jSFegundo aceroides), 

 the curious corky Elm ( Ulmns racemosa), with its branches 

 winjred with broad, thin rido-es of fine, brittle cork, caused 



