Trees, Shrubs and Vines 



birch for spools, red cedar for lead-pencils, red birch 

 for wooden-ware, hornbeam for tool-handles, white oak 

 the stanchest for ship-building, post oak for railway 

 tiers, shingle oak for shingles, beech for chairs, crack 

 willow for baskets, aspen and cottonwood for paper, 

 pine for masts and piles — though each of the foregoing 

 is serviceable for other ends ; and for an epitome of 

 timber uses, and to learn what a cosmopolitan affair a 

 one-horse shay is, consult Oliver Wendell Holmes. 



A strange idiosyncrasy of trees is the gregarious 

 habit of some species and the solitary life of others. 

 Oaks and maples often cover large areas, and some vast 

 forests are composed chiefly of spruces or birches ; but 

 the hop-hornbeam, the buckeye, and the elm grow sin- 

 gly, and the Kentucky coffee-tree, one of our rarest 

 sorts (one or two are in the Park), is always found 

 alone; pines show a very sober sociability. And how 

 slight a modification of soil or climate proves an insu- 

 perable barrier to the further range of many species. 

 Some, that are moderately abundant in Northern Penn- 

 sylvania and New Jersey, suddenly disappear just 

 across the State line in New York. Alders and willows 

 congregate by the water, moose-wood loves the moun- 

 tain range. Most species require plenty of sunlight, but 

 the papaw and striped maple seem quite contented in 

 the shade. 



Why do the larch, willow and alder respond with 

 such alacrity to the earliest vernal influences, while the 

 linden, paper mulberry, and catalpa are so tardy ? The 

 energetic horse-chestnut has developed all its dense 

 foliage ere the ailanthus betrays a single sign of life. 



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