the American Botanist 



VOL. XXIV. AUGUST 1918 No. 3. 



uhen the green rushes — O so y lossy green — 



"Uhe rushes, they would whisper, rustle, shake; 



Jxnd forth on floatiny yauze, no Jewell' d queen 



So rich, the yreen-eyed drayon- flies would break, 



Sind hover on the flowers — aerial things 



llfith little rainbows flic/ceriny on their winys. 



— Jean Ingelow. 



A 



A TREE THAT OWNS ITSELF 



By H. E. Zimmerman. 



MONG the curiosities in the city of Athens, Ga., there is 

 none of more general interest than the tree that owns 

 itself. It is the only tree in the world that has this record. 

 This famous oak is a majestic specimen of the forest that once 

 stood at that part of the present city. All its companions 

 have fallen at the hands of the woodman, but on account of 

 the fact that the tree owns itself no ax has ever been laid 

 upon it. 



In the early part of the nineteenth century there lived 

 in the town of Athens a gentleman by the name of Col. William 

 H. Jackson. He owned the land on which this tree stands, and 

 in his boyhood had played many a day beneath its protecting 

 shade. He had an idea one day that after he was dead some- 

 one would cut down that tree; so he made a deed to the tree 

 for eight feet of ground on each side, so that it could not be 

 disturbed. Of course the deed was of no binding effect on 

 anyone, but the sentiment was so beautiful that the tree has 



