20 2 FOREST TREES. 



vassals, were recognized, and very interesting it would be could we 

 know the particular history attached to these old heraldic hearings, now 

 lost in the darkness of the far away past. 



^^'e might picture to ourselves the parting of some brave warrior, 

 bound tor the wars of Palestine, with the dear object of his affections 

 reverently placing in his cap, or helmet, a leaf plucked by her own hand 

 from the trysting Oak, or the sprig of Laurel, which was to ensure 

 victory to the wearer. The Cross-leaved Heath, gathered from the 

 Moorland, was a sacred Christian emblem, as also was the Shamrock, 

 emblematical of the Holy Trinity. The Olive leaf betokened peace to 

 the wearer, and restoration. The Holly tree hardihood and endurance. 

 While the armed Thistle spoke of resistence and defiance 



In almost every country some particular species of tree seems to 

 hold a sort of pre-eminence and to flourish beyond its fellows. We read 

 that in Denmark three successive races of forest-trees have held the 

 soil, — the Pine, the Oak and the Beech, in succession. The natural 

 conclusion is that the Pines have exhausted some element in the soil 

 that was necessary for them ; they retire, as it were, from the land, and 

 the Oaks take their place and flourish for a long succession of centuries. 

 The ground again ceases to yield something necessary to support 

 the Oak, or maybe some change in the climate proves unsuited to its 

 growth ; by degrees the Oak groves give place to the Beech, and in 

 some distant future, the Beech in turn will prepare the way for the 

 Maple, or some other deciduous tree. I have, however, already alluded 

 to this. Let us return to our subject, the generous Maple. We have 

 dwelt upon its value to the mechanic, the timber merchant, and the 

 house-wife, for the luxuries it yields in the form of Sugar, Molasses and 

 Vinegar. &:c.; also of of beauty of its form and colouring to gladden the 

 eye of taste. Have we exhausted every subject ? No. Yet there is its 

 value as firewood ; and is this all that we can say? Not quite. Cast 

 your eyes upon the ground strewed in October with that thick carpeting 

 • of fallen leaves, so lovely to look upon, that the eye wanders over the 

 beauty of their gorgeous tints, with a feeling of sadness and regret, that 

 in a few short hours they will vanish from our sight. And is this all ? 

 No, those heajxs of dying leaves, have a lesson that speaks silently to 

 the thoughtful mind of the decay of all that is bright and beautiful on 

 earth, and its fleeting possessions ; and yet we may also see how the 

 fall of the leaf and the destruction of the worn-out fallen trunks and 

 branches are gradually preparing a rich and fertile soil for man's use and 

 future maintenance. Therefore, in life and in death, we have cause to 

 value the Canadian Sugar Maple, and with grateful hearts to thank the 

 Giver. 



