TREE LIFE 



' ' Are not these woods 

 More free from peril than the court ?" 



SHAKESPEARE. 



THE next best thing to getting the reader out 

 among the trees is to bring the trees home to 

 the reader, and this I have endeavored to do in 

 subsequent chapters, which aim, not so much to present 

 a few bare facts statistics and purely botanical lore 

 as to be a sort of cordial introduction to the numerous 

 arboreal individualities all around us, and to help the 

 novice to find a new significance in natural scenery. 



In order to realize the extent and variety of tree-life, 

 which makes this section of our vegetation so important, 

 it will be well to preface the description of particular 

 species by a broad survey of our native sylva. The 

 best method of grouping the species, for such survey, is 

 by the variations in some conspicuous feature common 

 to all the trees ; and by such subdivision the majority 

 of nearly two hundred species can easily be remem- 

 bered. 



For this purpose we take the blossom, in which the 

 variations are more radical than in any other part of the 

 plant. For those who feel that all classification should 

 proceed upon the orthodox lines laid down in current 

 botanical science it may be a satisfaction to know that 



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