TREES OF AMERICA. 17 



they are good for, and this will be a very good 

 subject for our conversation. What do you 

 think of the plan ?" 



" Why, Uncle Philip, trees are not as curi- 

 ous as insects ; but we know very well that 

 whatever you tell us must be worth knowing, 

 and that you talk to us for our good and 

 pleasure more than your own : so we will 

 listen to you very gladly, and thank you for 

 your kindness to us." 



" You must not expect that I shall be able 

 to mention all the trees that grow in the 

 United States ; there are some that have never 

 been described at all, and if I knew every one 

 of them, the number is so great that it would 

 take up a great deal too much time to tell you 

 even a little about each. More than a hun- 

 dred and forty different kinds of large trees 

 have been already discovered and examined, 

 growing in North America, and most of these 

 are to be found in the States : so you see that 

 it would be impossible for me to describe them 

 all to you in a great many conversations ; but 

 1 will try to tell you something about the 

 most useful and remarkable, and when you 

 are older, you can read more about them, and 

 about the others too, in books that have heen 



