1fn 1Rew BnglanD 



eral rule, is not naturally fertile ; the most 

 arable and fruitful existed in the valleys 

 of the large rivers. "An abundance of 

 the oak, hickory, walnut, ash, elm, 

 maple, pine, spruce, chestnut, cedar, and 

 other forest trees offered supplies for fuel, 

 tools, weapons, utensils, and building. 

 The chestnut, hazlenut, beechnut, butter- 

 nut, and shagbark yielded contributions 

 to the store of food laid up for winter. 

 Wild cherries, mulberries, and plums en- 

 larged the variety of the summer's diet. 

 Wild berries as the strawberry, the goose- 

 berry, the raspberry, the whortleberry, 

 the cranberry, grew in plenty in the 

 meadow and champaign lands. Vines 

 bearing grapes of tolerable flavor flour- 

 ished along the streams. A profusion of 

 flowering shrubs and of aquatic, forest, 

 and field flowers, brought their tribute to 

 the pomp of the year. The lobelia, the 

 sarsaparilla, the ginseng, and the sassafras 

 were prized for their medicinal qualities. 

 The native grasses of the upland were 

 rank but innutritions, so that the planters 



