"I know of an odd tree. Park discov 

 ered it in Africa and called it the 'butter 

 tree' because it produced butter." 



"Perhaps it is some relation to the 

 'milk tree' of South America." 



"Tell us about it," all cried in a chorus. 



"The fruit is the size of a small apple, 

 but the milk is the great wonder. It is 

 produced by making notches in the bark, 

 from which a liquid exudes as thick as 

 cream and with the same properties as 

 glue." 



'' 'Milk' isn't a fair name, then, if it 

 won't make butter," said Edith, "but I've 

 heard of the 'cow tree' in Venezuela 

 which gives a good milk of an agree 

 able smell and the people go at sunrise 

 with large bowls to get the milk for 

 breakfast." 



"There is a 'manna tree' in Sicily 

 which i tapped in August. The sap 

 flows out and hardens. It has a sweet 

 but nauseating taste," Aunt Jane con 

 tinued. 



"I think I'd like the 'pin cushion 

 tree,' " cried Bird. 



"Indeed! And what is that?" queried 

 Howard. 



"Oh ! a sort of yucca palm that grows 

 in southern United States and Mexico. 

 The Indians cut it down, saw it into 

 small sections a few inches long, round 

 off the white pith inside, and sell them 

 for pin cushions." 



"I've heard of that," said Aunt Jane, 

 "and that the pins and needles not only 

 stick into the pith easily but the spongy 

 substance has the virtue to keep them 

 bright and clean. 



"I presume the boys would care more 

 for the whistling tree, however." 



"Indeed we would, go on, Aunt Jane." 



"It is found in the West Indian Islands 

 and has a peculiar shaped leaf, and pods 

 with a split, or open edge. The wind 

 passing through these sends out the 

 sound which gives the tree its peculiar 

 name. When the trade winds blow a 

 moaning, deep toned whistle is heard 

 which, at night especially, has a weird 



effect. The whistling tree reminds me 

 of 'echo tree' at Blenheim. It is one 

 of a fine old grove of cedars where sev 

 enteen syllables can be heard by day 

 and nineteen by night. Not far away is 

 the old oak, twenty-seven feet around, 

 called 'Alfred's oak,' and there is a tra 

 dition that Alfred the Great did really 

 live here." 



"It isn't surprising," said Alice, that 

 'echo tree' is a cedar, for the poets al 

 ways like to write of what they call the 

 'vocal pines.' " 



"Trees that can talk are very inter 

 esting, no doubt," said John, "especially 

 to the poets who fancy they hear them, 

 but just now I remember reading of a 

 wonderful tree recently discovered in 

 California. It is called till classified 

 the 'chloroform tree' because its strange, 

 tarantula-shaped flowers have the prop-, 

 erty of rendering anyone who handles 

 them unconscious." 



"Now if we only had a few blossoms," 

 cried Bird, mischievously, "to put John 

 to sleep so Auntie could go on with the 

 story of her trees!" 



"We have time for only one more, and 

 that is the 'candle tree.' It is a beauti 

 ful Chinese tree whose nuts furnish a 

 material with the properties of animal 

 tallow. This is subjected to certain pro 

 cesses and then made into candles. 



"It would be interesting to go on and 

 consider the profitable cork forests of 

 Spain which cover an area of 620,000 

 square miles, also to familiarize ourselves 

 with the groves of big trees in Cali 

 fornia, but we will end our tree talk with 

 the question Is there a verse in the 

 Bible which forbids forest destruction?" 



"Indeed there is," cried Alice, "we 

 read it in our Bible lesson recently. It 

 is Deuteronomy xx, 19 : 'When thou shalt 

 besiege a city a long time thou shalt not 

 destroy the trees thereof by forcing an 

 ax against them, and thou shalt not cut 

 them down, for the tree of the field is 

 man's life.'"- 



BELLE PAXSON DRURY. 



109 



