The Old Willow Tree 



H. S. Crowell 



Teacher of Agriculture, High School, Albion, N. Y. 



HIS old willow friend of mine is seven times as old as 

 I am and more than twice as old as any of us will 

 ever be. 



This old tree is right across the road from my 

 house and where I can see it every morning as soon 

 as I wake up. When I wake up I alwa^^s look to see 

 how my old friend looks, for it looks very different 

 on different days. 



In the winter I have awakened and found him all 

 white with snow. Again in the spring I wake up on a 

 warm morning and look out to see the golden branches all covered 

 with leaves and then I know that it will soon be time to make 

 whistles from the willow limbs. Did any of you e^^er make willow 

 whistles ? 



Shall I first tell you how this tree happened to be where it is? 

 I will tell you the story as my uncle told it to me for the tree is on 

 his farm. 



Years and years ago when the Indians were still living in this 

 part of the country a man settled on this farm. He had two little 

 boys who used to go after the cows and help their papa in man}^ 

 ways. 



One night while after the cows one of them cut a whip and he 

 still had it when he got home. His father told him that if he would 

 stick the end of it in a wet place it would grow and some day 

 become a big tree. 



So this little boy took the whip down by the bam and stuck it in 

 the mud and watched it to see what would happen. 



What do you suppose this little whip did ? Why the first thing it 

 did was to start growing some roots down in the mud to hold it up 

 and to eat thru. Did any of you ever watch a duck stick its head 

 down into the mud after something to eat? Well, that is the way 

 this little whip sent its roots down. They grew and grew all the 

 time getting something to eat out of the ground. The roots then 

 fed part of what they got to the whip and it began to grow. Then 

 in the spring, leaves began to grow on this little whip and it looked 

 like a little boy in a new suit of clothes. Now the leaves also 



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