204 JBotan^ 



gether firmly in bundles, are'well secured to the tree, 

 while the long needle-shape offers little resistance to 

 the wind. This assures their long continuance on 

 the tree. Do they, then, never come off ? Certainly. 

 The pine leaves remain three or four years; the 

 spruce and fir five, or even seven ; the yew eight ; 

 some others are even longer lived, and remain from 

 sixteen to twenty years. They gradually dry and 

 wither for a yeav or two before falling, and they do 

 not all go in a single season. As some fall others 

 develop ; there is continuous loss and replacement. 

 Thus we find the ground under the evergreens alwaj^s 

 Avell-carpeted with their needles, while in undimmed 

 glory the green immortals among trees seem to 

 watch with wonder the fall of the autumn leaves 

 around them. 



Walking among these immortals of the i^lant 

 world while the first December snow falls lightly 

 over them, we call to mind those "men that never 

 die :" Charlemagne, sitting among his peers, waiting 

 to return to universal empire ; King Arthur at rest 

 in Avalon until the hour strikes for him to come 

 again ; Genghis Khan lingers somewhere in the un- 

 known yet to overrun Asia and Europe with his 

 hordes. But these are fancies only, and facts are 

 better. The immortals among trees give us facts of 

 even greater interest than these dreamings. 



