Arboreal Aberrations 



No. 8. 



From this remarkable picture we gather that the twin 

 maples perched up on top of the rock had their start 

 from seeds which sprouted in a deposit of fern mould, 

 and ran their roots down over the rock to the abundance 

 of the soil, in the stream's bank. Judging from the 

 gnarly protuberances in the trunks near the top of the 

 rock, at one time, probably, roots ran down over the face 

 of the rock and into the water. Some shifting of near-by 

 boulders in the stream subjected the roots to the chafing 

 of ice and eventually amputated them. The years have 

 healed the wounds, and the maple twins sit proudly on 

 their rocky pedestal admiring themselves in the placid 

 water. 



During years of observation of tree growth many 

 equally interesting freaks have come to my notice. One 

 tree might aptly be termed " The Fiddler." This is a 

 case where two pines are growing close together and the 

 branch of one chafes, in the wind, across the trunk of the 

 other, giving a near imitation of a squeaky fiddler at a 

 barn dance. It is a common occurrence for a seed to 

 lodge in a rock, and, as it grows, to split the rock in twain. 

 Again, a yellow birch fell in the crotch of another; its 

 top broke off and rotted away, while its trunk grafted to 

 the wound made in the crotch, thus forming a rustic 

 bridge. In another case, an acorn left under the founda- 

 tion of a house took root and grew, displacing part of the 

 foundation. The owner from year to year had to remove 

 foundation-stones to make room for its roots. As it was 

 considered a curiosity, instead of destroying the tree, 

 the owner preferred to repair his crowded foundation 

 to suit the tree's growth. In another instance, a branch 



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