1893.] ESSAYS. 67 



and evangelist. Close by the stately and pleasing residence is a mon- 

 ster elm. It is an undoubted relic of the original forest, for its great 

 proportions portend an age greater than is the settlement of the town. 

 At five feet from the ground it has a circumference of 14 feet and 7 

 inches. This tree exhibits the rai'e trait of a tree's trunk enlarging 

 towards the place of furcation, instead of the inverse order. Thus, 

 at three feet from the ground its girth is 14 feet and 3 inches, four 

 inches less than at five feet. At seven feet from the ground the tree 

 attains a circumference of just sixteen feet, or 2 feet, 7 inches 

 greater than at five feet. Just above this last girth the tree forks 

 into thirteen branches, which with their minor branches form a broad 

 spreading top. The diameter of this, from northwest to southwest, 

 is 107 feet, a circumference of 321 feet. The tree shows little or no 

 evidence that it is past its prime. 



A black walnut tree on Green Hill farm, in Worcester, is finely 

 preserved, and shows not a trace of old age. Its every twig is full 

 of life and vigor, and from its appearance one would not suspect that 

 it had weathered the storms and winds of a century, and the fact that 

 it has in its high location, is quite ample proof that the soil and 

 climate of Worcester County are congenial to the requirements of the 

 black walnut. The girth of the tree at two feet from the ground is 

 8 feet and 8 inches, and at five feet it is 7 feet and 10 inches. Thus 

 it may be seen that its trunk maintains a quite uniform size, and it is 

 cylindric in form. 



The tree branches at twelve feet, and the first of these is forty feet 

 in length. Several of the branches would make averaged size saw 

 logs, and in the aggregate the tree would produce four hundred feet 

 of lumber. It produces large crops of walnuts every year, which in 

 the green state are very pungent, and so also are the young leaves. 

 As an ornamental tree this particular one is grand. It is seventy- 

 five feet high, with a full and well-rounded top. The trunk and 

 limbs are but slightly furrowed, and its bark, in this respect, is not 

 dissimilar to the white ash. 



On the road leading from West Boylston to Clinton, and ten min- 

 utes walk from its post-office, is the locality known as French Hill, 

 and a short walk farther along the road brings one to a white oak 

 tree that is alike great in its age and great in its proportions. Like 

 most white oaks it has no bulge at its roots, and one foot above the 

 ground it girths 19 feet and 6 inches. At two feet from the ground 

 it has a circumference of 17 feet and 2 inches, and at four feet its 

 circumference is 15 feet and 6 inches. The undoubted age of this 



