TREES AND SHRUBS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



567 



merit, that its author had not gone into the 

 fields and woods, and studied the many 

 grand and noble specimens, instead of con- 

 tenting himself chiefly with a perusal and 

 recapitulation of the dimensions of the cel- 

 ebrated specimens of Europe. Mr. Emer- 

 son, we are delighted to find, has no short- 

 comings of this kind. The pages before us 

 abound with interesting accounts and mea- 

 surements of the finest sylvan specimens 

 in the Bay State, — so that any devout wor- 

 shipper, who has, like ourselves, a little of 

 the feeling of the Druids lingerisg in his 

 nature, can easily learn where to go and 

 search for the most fitting shrines. 



Massachusetts is considered by many, a 

 state Avhere the soil is usually thin, and the 

 forest growth by no means luxuriant. This 

 may be just in the main, as a view of her 

 whole superficial area. But the existence 

 of specimens, the accurate measurements 

 of which we find recorded in this volume, 

 some of which we have ourselves examined 

 with great satisfaction, proves that there 

 are portions of her soil, rarely excelled in 

 richness and fertility. The great Elm at 

 Springfield, for example, measures twent}'^- 

 ty-five feet, nine inches, in circumference, 

 three feet above the ground. A chestnut 

 southeast of Monument mountain, on the 

 road leading to Sheffield, in a pasture, mea- 

 sured, in 1944, at the ground, thirty feet 

 two inches in circumference. A white oak 

 at Bolton, measures twenty feet in circum- 

 ference. And a buttonwood at Vaucluse, 

 some miles from Newport, measured in 

 1839, twenty-four feet four inches in cir- 

 cumference. These are ancient monu- 

 ments, as interesting to us as the foot prints 

 in the old red sandstone to the geologists. 



We have not space to go into a detailed 

 examination of this book, and we will not 

 deprive our many readers, who will yet be- 



come possessors of it, of any of the plea- 

 sure of perusal, by disjointed fragments. 

 Only the following remarks, we shall ex- 

 tract from the -preface, with which we again 

 commend the work heartily to their fre- 

 quent study and reference. 



" But it [the present Eeport] is for the 

 common unlearned citizens, who live on 

 farms in the country, and have few books 

 and little leisure. It is, as far as possible, 

 for it can not be wholly, divested of techni- 

 cal language, in order that they may un- 

 derstand it. And it will accomplish the 

 purpose for which it is written, if it awaken 

 them to a deeper sense of the value of the 

 blessings by which they are surrounded, 

 and lead them, or any of them, to resolve 

 to preserve the old forests, and plant new. 



" A few generations ago, an almost un- 

 broken forest covered the continent. The 

 smoke from the Indian's wigwam rose only 

 at distant intervals ; and to one looking 

 from Wachusett, or Mount Washington, 

 the small patches laid open for the cultiva- 

 tion of maize, interrupted not perceptibly 

 the dark green of the woods. Now, these 

 old woods are every where falling. The 

 axe has made, and is making, wanton and 

 terrible havoc. The cunning foresight of 

 the Yankee, seems to desert him when he 

 takes the axe in hand. The new settler 

 clears in a year more acres than he can cul- 

 tivate in ten, and destroys at a single burn- 

 ing many a winter's fuel, which would bet- 

 ter be kept in reserve for his grandchil- 

 dren. Tliis profuse waste is checked, but 

 it has not entirely ceased. It is, however, 

 giving way to better views. Ever since 

 this survey was begun, a wiser economy 

 shows itself. May it be universal. A brief 

 consideration of the general uses of forests, 

 on a great scale, may have a tendency to 

 produce this effect." 



