THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS 



European trees made their appearance. 

 Most of the native trees had been cut and 

 hewn into timbers for homes. Invariably 

 the linden and English oak were the species 

 selected and imported for shade-tree plant- 

 ing. Both of these varieties grew beauti- 

 fully in the mother country, and it may be 

 said that Holland, where the Pilgrims sought 

 a refuge before coming to America, has been 

 called "the country of lindens." Certainly 

 the planting of such trees in the New World 

 was a mark of affection for things held dear 

 in the Old, and the symbol of a friendship 

 which even the misunderstandings of Revo- 

 lutionary times could not shatter. America 

 abounds with oaks, lindens and elms thus 

 planted. 



To obtain a clear idea of the type of men 

 who were most responsible for the estab- 

 lishment of the European trees in Plymouth 

 we must look forward a period of years to 

 that era of peace and accomplishment which 

 followed the Revolution. It was then that 

 the real character of these men asserted 

 itself. They were marked by other dis- 



C20] 



