XanDmarfcs 



so what are the claims of old trees to our regard ? 

 Single one out, and study its career. Go to it in 

 early spring and watch the swelling leaf-buds. 

 This is the tree's busiest time, and yet how quietly 

 it does its work ! No one ever heard of a ner- 

 vous or fretful tree. There 's a hint for you. I 

 know a beech that yearly bears a half- million of 

 leaves, yet their growth never made sufficient stir 

 to deflect thistle-down from its course. Millions 

 of drops of sap course through as many channels, 

 yet there is no sound of moving water. It is in 

 vain to press your ear against the bark ; you will 

 hear nothing ; but the sap was passing upward all 

 the while. No tree asks aid from its neighbors. 

 It is self-reliant; and how much of that virtue can 

 you rightly boast of? 



We know that ere long the tree will afford us 

 grateful shade ; but did it make you any promise 

 to that effect ? You go to it, in fullest confidence, 

 when the hot July sunshine scorches the fields, 

 and you never are disappointed. Cannot man- 

 kind get a hint from a tree? Who ever lived 

 that never spake of himself, never despatched a 

 courier announcing his intentions, and never failed 

 to meet the just expectations of his fellows ? Death 

 alone is the disturber of a tree, but man, with all 

 his superiority, is the sole reason for such a word 

 as vacillation. He is a poor student who can 

 spend a day with a tree and go home none the 

 wiser. I say this with confidence. As the tree 

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