THOUGHTS ON TREES AND FLOWERS. 



155 



common, and therefore, perhaps, more pleas- 

 ing. A cursorj' passenger might overlook 

 the native Larch, there called Tamarac, 

 among its neighbors of pines and coniferous 

 trees ; but a slight observation serves to disclose 

 its peculiarities, and to recommend it as a tree 

 ■w'Oithy of transplantation to any more southern 

 residence to which it can be reconciled. That 

 its habitat has been heretofore limited, and 

 that it deserves all that we could here say 

 to make it more widely knowni, suffice it for 

 us, that Jlr. Walsh, whose amiable and cul- 

 tivated enthusiasm in the cultivation of flowers 

 and trees, is so well known, has lately dra\\Ti it 

 from its native haunts to give additional charms 

 to his liighly ornamented grounds at Lansing- 

 burgh, not many miles north of Albany. 



We wish it ■were in our power, in the hope 

 of stimulating others to go and do likewise, to 

 give a catalogue of the very many flowers and 

 trees tliat serve to embellish the gardens and 

 grounds of Col. S. Young, Mr. A. Walsh, and 

 the gentlemen in Ball.ston and Saratoga, who 

 have done so much to beautify their respective 

 villages, and to encourage a taste so honorable and 

 praiseworthy ; one for which, however, one might 

 suppose sufficient inducement mi^t be found, 

 were it only in providing the attraction and 

 shelter which trees and shrubberj- offer to inno- 

 cent birds, to come around with confidence, and 

 in our veiy view and hearing sport their loves, 

 and build their ne.sts. and rear their young, and 

 sing their songs. Shall we take room to let the 

 reader admire, once again, how well all this is 

 painted by tlie Poet of Nature in his lines on the 



PAIRING OF BIRDS. 



When first the soul of love is sent abroad. 

 Warm through the vital air, and on the heait 

 Harmoniou;^ fcizes, the gay troops begin, 

 In gallant thought, to plume the painted wing ; 

 And try again tbe loiig-torgotten strain. 

 At first faint-warbled. But no sooner grows 

 The soft infusion prevalent and wide, 

 Than, all alive, at once their joy o'erflows 

 In music uncontin'd. Up springs the lark, 

 Shrill-voic'd. and loud, the messenger of morn ; 

 Kre yet the shadows fly, he mounted sings 

 Amid the dawning clouds, and from their haunts 

 Calls up the tuneful nations. Every copse 

 Deep-tangled, tree irregular, and bush 

 Bending with dewj- moisture, o'er the heads 

 Of the c^y quiristers that lodge within, 

 Are prodigal of harmony. The thrush 

 And wood-lark, o'er the kind-contending throng 

 Superior heard, run through the sweetest length 

 Of notes : when listening Philomela deigns 

 To let them joy, and purposes, in thought 

 Kliite, to make her night excel their day. 

 The black-liird whistles li-om the thorny brake ; 

 The mellow buU-tinch answers from the giove : 

 Nor are the liimets. o'er the flowering furze 

 Pour'd out profusely, silent. Join'd to these, 

 hinumerous songsters, in the freshening sli.nde 

 Of new-sprung leaves their modulations mix 

 MelUduous. ITie jay, the rook, the daw, 

 And each hfush pipe, discordant heard alone, 

 Aiii the fuU concert ; while the stock-dove breathes 

 A melancholy munnur through the whole. 



As a patron of Arboriculture, we mifrht sav 



of Agriculture generally, Mr. Lennox must ex 

 cuse the public mention of his name. In a 

 spirit worthy of emulation, he has planted, as 

 ■we are informed, by a much respected friend of 

 his, not less \ha.u fourteen thonaand forest and, 

 fruit trees on his estate, on the left bank of the 

 Hudson. Among these, in ages to come, may 

 be foimd witnesses of his liberalitj', more en- 

 during and unequivocal than monuments of 

 marble or brass. The vine, too, that sj^mbol in 

 all ages of plenty and happiness, is there an 

 object of especial attention, being made to beau- 

 tify his grounds by the curious and fanciful props 

 devised for its support — thus it is that taste is seen 

 to combine grace and utility ; and how much 

 better is such emplojTnent of time and means, by 

 those \vho are the favored of fortune, than vex- 

 ing their lives with continual anxiety to accu- 

 mulate — more — mcn-c — a little more ! which, 

 after all, must be left behind, to be squandered, 

 finally, by we know not whom ; on objects, we 

 kno%v not what ? But of all the tenants of our 

 woods, were we to to select one to represent 

 the American forests with most grace and ma- 

 jesty, in a grand Congress of Trees, we should 

 give the commission to an Elm, on "Elm-land," 

 the estate of Joel Root, Esq. fourteen miles 

 from Saratoga, which measures at its base, 44 

 feet in circumference, at 3 feet from the ground 

 22 feet, and at 6 feet from the ground 17 feet, 

 maintaining nearly that size to the height of sixty 

 feet, when its branches commence, and as they 

 rise, spread gracefulh', until they overhang an 

 area of 100 feet. 



The celebrated Pittsfield Elm, adrau-ed and 

 remembered by all who have seen it, and which 

 yet survives a severe stroke of lightning, meas- 

 ures about fourteen feet at three feet from the 

 ground. But were we called on to send to 

 such a Congress of Arborical Sovereigns, a tree 

 that bj- some magic could be invested with 

 power to give voice to the profound reflections 

 on the historj' of the various nations and govern- 

 ments of ancient and modern times, which, under 

 its .shade, may have had their birth in the solitary 

 musings of its owner ; then give us the great 

 Elm that overshadows the Makshfield man- 

 sion — thus so accurately desciibed by our fiiend 

 Bkeck, of the New-England Farmer. 



" The most striking object which meets the 

 eye at first sight, is a majestic Elm tree, near 

 the East comer of the hou.se, which fonns a 

 complete bower. It stands on an oval grass 

 plot, which makes a fine carpet for the bower. 

 At a distance of eight or ten feet from the ground, 

 the branches in every direction horizontally, 

 gently cur\-ing over till they rest upon the green- 

 swt'ird, excepting on the side next the house, 

 where it has been necessarj' to cut out some of 

 the lower limbs, that carriages may pa«8 to the 

 easter door. The branches on this side nearly 

 touch the house, and form a complete canojiy to 

 this entrance. The longest diameter of \.\rm 

 tree-bov/er is 94 feet — perhaps 70 the other way. 



