50 WINTER FIELD MEETING. 



Winter is the only season that the system of tree- 

 branching may be studied, and this of itself might well 

 occupy the hour given to this paper. We might compare 

 the angular forking of the Sassafras, with the graceful 

 curves of the Birch. We might compare the drooping 

 younger branches of the Elm, with the older limbs of 

 the same tree, and wonder how any of them became erect. 

 We might compare the upright branches of the Ash, with 

 the spreading branches of the Chestnut, or the irregu- 

 larities of the Hickory branches. We might enter into 

 endless study to learn how and why all this branch 

 variation came about. 



Then too, in winter, we can see why it is that Spruces 

 are spiriform, while the deciduous trees are spreading, for 

 we can see that the continuance and more rapid growth 

 of the terminal bud of the Spruce must produce a conical 

 tree, while the evident early loss of the terminal bud, or 

 its entire absence, in the other trees, shows that they 

 must be spreading in their growth. 



From the aesthetic point of view, it is surprising that 

 so few people appreciate the beauty of the leafless trees 

 in their winter state. 



Many of them possess a grace and beauty which is 

 wholly lost in summer when they are densely clothed 

 with leaves, or when hidden by their neighbors. 



One of our own townsmen, Mr. Very, whose rambles 

 in the country around Salem, brought him face to face 

 with Nature whom he loved, and whose every work he 

 appreciated, in a sonnet to "The Tree," says : — 



" I love thee when thy swelling buds appear 

 And one by one their tender leaves unfold, 

 As if they knew that warmer suns were near, 

 Nor longer sought to hide from winter's cold ; 

 And when with darker growth thy leaves are seen 

 To veil from view the early robin's nest, 



