20 THE HUMAN SIDE OF TREES 



lar may evade the elements by inclining upwards, 

 the elm may lessen their stress by arching its back, 

 the willow may even bow subserviently before them, 

 but the oak meets them evenly and squarely like a 

 mighty warrior. It sends massive horizontal 

 branches out into their very teeth. Its knotted 

 limbs and huge trunk bear the marks of many com- 

 bats, yet when its round, spreading crown is clothed 

 in its mantle of royal green, no human potentate 

 ever made a more courtly picture. Its attributes 

 are age, power, endurance and patience. To these 

 the live oak of the South adds a chaotic arrange- 

 ment of limbs an artist once described as "pic- 

 turesqueness gone mad." 



The maple has many friends in the human world. 

 Each man is apt to pick out a favourite which comes 

 nearest to reflecting his own character. Many va- 

 rieties of maple seem to combine sturdy self-reli- 

 ance with soft gracefulness in an attractive manner. 

 Their trim and compact bodies have a certain ma- 

 jestic femininity about them. We might consider 

 them the queens of the tree world. They show an 

 economical and effective arrangement of their small 

 but comely leaves which smacks of dressmaking. 

 They are the female editions of the oak. 



Autumn is their gala season. In their brave 

 gowns of gold and scarlet, no competitor presents 



